By: Duncan S.B. No. 308
(In the Senate - Filed January 31, 2005; February 7, 2005,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 1, 2005, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 1, 2005, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to temporary successors to members of the legislature
during a period of emergency caused by enemy attack.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 304.004, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 304.004. DESIGNATION OF EMERGENCY INTERIM SUCCESSORS
[BY LEGISLATOR: ALTERNATE LIST]. (a) Each [A list prepared for a
district under this section is an alternate list to be used only if
there are no designees on the list prepared under Section 304.003 or
if those designees are unavailable.
[(b) For the purpose of designating emergency interim
successors, each] legislator shall designate not less than three
nor more than seven individuals to serve as emergency interim
successors if the legislator is certified to be [becomes]
unavailable to serve as provided by this chapter. Each individual
designated must [be from the same political party as that
legislator, must] meet age and residence requirements for a senator
or representative, as applicable, and must submit a written
acceptance to the legislator.
(b) To be effective, a designation must include the name and
address of the designee.
(c) As soon as practicable after a legislator takes the oath
of office for the legislator's term, the [Each] legislator shall
file [submit] a list of the legislator's designees who have
accepted the designation, ranked in order of succession, together
with the written acceptance of each designee, with [to] the
secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house of
representatives, as applicable. That officer shall promptly
deliver a certified copy of the list and of each acceptance to the
secretary of state.
(d) At least annually [Annually], each legislator shall
review the most recent list of emergency interim successors to the
position held [lists submitted] by the legislator [to the secretary
of state] to ensure that there are at least three qualified
emergency interim successors on the list. Each legislator shall
make revisions to the list as necessary and may make other revisions
the legislator considers appropriate. A revision designating a new
emergency interim successor must be accompanied by the written
acceptance of the designee. The secretary of the senate or chief
clerk of the house, as applicable, shall promptly deliver a
certified copy of each revision and of any accompanying acceptance
to the secretary of state.
(e) If at any time a legislator has not designated [fails to
designate] emergency interim successors as required by this
section, the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house, as
appropriate, may [shall] designate in order of succession not [less
than three nor] more than seven individuals to serve as emergency
interim successors if that legislator becomes unavailable. Each
individual designated must meet the applicable age and residence
requirements and submit a written acceptance of the designation.
The lieutenant governor or speaker [and] shall file [submit] the
list and the written acceptances of the designees with [to] the
secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house, as
applicable, who shall deliver a certified copy of the list and of
each acceptance to the secretary of state. At any time, the
legislator in the manner provided by this section may make
revisions to the list filed under this subsection or file a
superseding list of designees.
SECTION 2. Section 304.005, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 304.005. WHEN DESIGNATION OR REVISION TAKES EFFECT
[RECORDING]. (a) Each designation of an emergency interim
successor [successors] becomes effective when the individual
making the designation files the designation [successor's name,
address,] and the designee's written acceptance with the
appropriate senate or house officer under Section 304.004
[secretary of state].
(b) The removal of an emergency interim successor from the
list or a change in the order of succession becomes effective when
an individual authorized to make the change files that information
with the appropriate senate or house officer under Section 304.004
[secretary of state].
(c) Information filed under this chapter [section] is
public information, except that the home address and home telephone
number of a designee may be disclosed only if the designee, in a
signed writing filed with the secretary of the senate or chief clerk
of the house of representatives, as applicable, specifically states
that the information may be disclosed.
(d) A certified copy of a list of designated emergency
interim successors or of a revision of a list delivered to the
secretary of state under this chapter is for informational purposes
only unless the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house
certifies to the secretary of state that the applicable records of
the senate or house have been lost or destroyed or have become
unavailable in another manner, in which event the certified records
delivered to the secretary of state are treated as if they are the
original records.
SECTION 3. Section 304.008, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 304.008. ASSUMPTION OF POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) If the
governor has declared an emergency due to enemy attack or the
immediate threat of enemy attack under Section 62, Article III,
Texas Constitution, and the lieutenant governor or speaker of the
house, as applicable, determines that a legislator is unavailable
to serve when the legislature has convened or will convene, the
lieutenant governor or speaker, as applicable, shall certify to the
secretary of state that the [in the event of attack a] legislator is
unavailable. If the governor has declared an emergency due to enemy
attack or the immediate threat of enemy attack under Section 62,
Article III, Texas Constitution, and at the time and place the
legislature is scheduled to convene the lieutenant governor or
speaker is absent from the applicable house, a majority of the
members of that house who are present may determine that a member of
that house who is not present is unavailable and certify that
determination to the secretary of state.
(b) If a legislator is certified to be unavailable under
Subsection (a), the secretary of state shall notify the
legislator's emergency interim successor highest in order of
succession who is available that the emergency interim successor is
entitled to exercise the powers and duties of the legislator who is
unavailable. The secretary of state shall inform the [each]
emergency interim successor of the date, time, and place at which
the legislature is meeting or will meet, as soon as that is known[,
and shall also inform each successor of the date and time at which
each must appear]. If the emergency interim successor declines to
serve or does not appear and begin to serve within a reasonable time
as determined by the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house, as
applicable, the secretary of state at the request of the lieutenant
governor or speaker shall notify the emergency interim successor
next in order of succession who is available that the emergency
interim successor is entitled to exercise the powers and duties of
the legislator who is unavailable.
(c) [(b)] The emergency interim successor shall exercise
the powers and assume the duties of the legislator whom the
individual [he] succeeds, except that the successor may not
designate emergency interim successors or make revisions to a
designation [for himself].
(d) [(c)] The emergency interim successor exercises those
powers and assumes those duties until the secretary of state
notifies the successor that the incumbent legislator, an emergency
interim successor higher in order of succession for the same
position, or a legislator elected to the same position and legally
qualified can act.
(e) Any dispute as to the qualification of an individual to
exercise the powers and assume the duties of a legislator under this
chapter shall be determined by the applicable house of the
legislature as provided by Section 8, Article III, Texas
Constitution.
SECTION 4. Subsection (c), Section 304.009, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) An emergency interim successor's performance of the
powers and duties of an unavailable legislator does not affect the
successor's entitlement to other compensation or benefits to which
the successor might otherwise be entitled. Section 812.203(a)
[812.203(d)] does not apply to an individual serving as an
emergency interim successor under this chapter.
SECTION 5. Section 304.003, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 6. (a) Not later than January 1, 2006, or as soon
thereafter as practicable, each member of the legislature in office
on the effective date of this Act shall file a list designating
emergency interim successors in accordance with Chapter 304,
Government Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) A designation of emergency interim successors to a
member of the legislature filed with the secretary of state under
Chapter 304, Government Code, before the effective date of this Act
that is in effect on the effective date of this Act remains in
effect on and after the effective date of this Act until the earlier
of the following occurs:
(1) the legislator files a list of interim successors
with the secretary of the senate or chief clerk of the house of
representatives, as applicable, in accordance with Chapter 304,
Government Code, as amended by this Act; or
(2) the legislator for whom the designation was made
ceases to be a member of the legislature.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section does not prohibit the
lieutenant governor or the speaker of the house of representatives
from acting under Subsection (e), Section 304.004, Government Code,
as amended by this Act, when appropriate.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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