BILL ANALYSIS
By: Goodman
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, state agencies and governmental entities are authorized to disclose an individual's social security number to anyone who requests it, unless the individual falls within certain categories for which the social security number is exempted or protected from disclosure (e.g., government employees, peace officers, crime victims, etc.).
Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States, and often all that an individual needs in order to perpetrate identity theft is the victim's name, his or her date of birth, and his or her social security number. Without a change in the law, individuals are at higher risk of having their identity stolen.
The purpose of the committee substitute for House Bill No. 1952 is to prohibit the disclosure of a person's social security number to a member of the public by a governmental entity under certain circumstances without that person's written consent or the written consent of that individual's guardian.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the opinion of the Committee on Business and Industry that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
The committee substitute for House Bill No. 1952 adds Section 552.147 of the Government Code to prohibit a governmental body from disclosing a person's social security number to a member of the public in certain circumstances without that person's written consent or the written consent of that individual's guardian.
The substitute does allow for an individual's social security number to be disclosed or released under the following limited conditions and to the following limited entities:
upon written consent from the individual or the individual's guardian;
to a federal, state, or local governmental entity when the information is being used for a legitimate governmental purpose without the consent of the individual; or
to a private or public vendor as necessary to allow the vendor to comply with performance requirements of a service contract with the governmental body.
C.S.H.B. No. 1952 creates a provision that current law will have supremacy over this law if in fact this law comes in conflict with a previous law or other provision of this chapter. It establishes that Sections 552.022, 552.024, 552.1175, and 552.132 do not allow the disclosure of an individual's social security number by a governmental entity.
EFFECTIVE DATE
C.S.H.B. No. 1952 establishes that this legislation will take immediate effect if it receives a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house. If the bill does not receive the necessary vote to take immediate effect, then the Act will take effect September 1, 2005.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The committee substitute for House Bill No. 1952 adds one additional exception to the prohibition against the disclosure of a person's social security number which is described in proposed Section 552.147 of the Government Code. The substitute would allow an individual's social security number to be released to a private or public vendor who is under contract with a governmental entity which needs the number in order to perform requirements of a service contract with the governmental body.