79R7244 DLF-D

By:  Wong                                                         H.B. No. 2783



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the time for responding to notice of certain sworn 
complaints filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 571.1242(a), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(a)  If the alleged violation is a Category One violation:                     
		(1)  the respondent must respond to the notice required 
by Section 571.123(b) not later than the 25th [10th] business day 
after the date the respondent receives the notice; and
		(2)  if the matter is not resolved by agreement between 
the commission and the respondent before the 45th [30th] business 
day after the date the respondent receives the notice under Section 
571.123(b), the commission shall set the matter for a preliminary 
review hearing to be held at the next commission meeting for which 
notice has not yet been posted.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to a sworn complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission on or 
after September 1, 2005. A sworn complaint filed with the Texas 
Ethics Commission before September 1, 2005, is governed by the law 
as it existed at the time the complaint was filed, and that law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.