By: Shapleigh, Carona S.B. No. 896
      Ellis
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the driver responsibility program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 708.151, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 708.151.  NOTICE OF SURCHARGE.  (a)  The department
  shall send notices as required by Subsection (b) to [notify] the
  holder of a driver's license when [of the assessment of] a surcharge
  is assessed on that license. Each notice must:
               (1)  be sent by first class mail [sent] to the person's
  most recent address as shown on the records of the department;
               (2)  [. The notice must] specify the date by which the
  surcharge must be paid; and
               (3)  state the consequences of a failure to pay the
  surcharge.
         (b)  The department shall send a first notice not later than
  the fifth day after the date the surcharge is assessed.  If before
  the 30th day after the date the first notice was sent the person
  fails to pay the amount of the surcharge or fails to enter into an
  installment payment agreement with the department, the department
  shall send a second notice.  If before the 30th day after the date
  the second notice was sent the person fails to pay the amount of the
  surcharge or fails to enter into an installment payment agreement
  with the department, the department shall send a third notice.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 708.152, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If before the 30th day after the date the department
  sends a third notice under Section 708.151 the person fails to pay
  the amount of a surcharge on the person's license or fails to enter
  into an installment payment agreement with the department, the
  license of the person is automatically suspended.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (b), Section 708.153, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A rule under this section:
               (1)  may not require [permit] a person to pay a
  surcharge over a period of less [more] than 36 consecutive months;
  and
               (2)  may provide that if the person fails to make a
  required installment payment, the department may reestablish the
  installment plan or declare the amount of the unpaid surcharge
  immediately due and payable.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter D, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 708.158 to read as follows:
         Sec. 708.158.  JURISDICTION. (a)  For the time a surcharge
  under this chapter is outstanding, the court in which a person is
  convicted of the offense that is the basis for the surcharge has
  jurisdiction over the person, the department, and all agents of the
  department regarding all matters relating to the surcharge.
         (b)  The court may reduce or waive a surcharge under this
  chapter. A person who is assessed a surcharge may file a pleading,
  request a hearing, or otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of the
  court described by Subsection (a) at any time the person is required
  to pay a surcharge or is subject to any other enforcement procedure
  described by this chapter.
         (c)  The department may not assess a surcharge against a
  person who is indigent. For the purposes of this subsection, a
  person is indigent if:
               (1)  the person provides evidence described by
  Subsection (d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the
  offense that is the basis for the surcharge; or
               (2)  the person is a full-time student who:
                     (A)  is enrolled in a public, private, or
  independent institution of higher education; and
                     (B)  provides evidence described by Subsection
  (d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the offense
  that is the basis for the surcharge.
         (d)  A person must provide the following information to the
  court in which the person is convicted of the offense that is the
  basis for the surcharge as evidence that the person's income or the
  person's household income does not exceed 200 percent of the
  applicable income level established by the federal poverty
  guidelines:
               (1)  a copy of the person's most recent federal income
  tax return;
               (2)  a copy of the person's most recent statement of
  wages; or
               (3)  documentation from a federal agency, state agency,
  or school district that indicates that the person or a member of the
  person's family with whom the person resides receives assistance
  from:
                     (A)  the food stamp program or the financial
  assistance program established under Chapter 31, Human Resources
  Code;
                     (B)  the federal special supplemental nutrition
  program for women, infants, and children authorized by 42 U.S.C.
  Section 1786;
                     (C)  the medical assistance program under Chapter
  32, Human Resources Code;
                     (D)  the child health plan program under Chapter
  62, Health and Safety Code; or
                     (E)  the national free or reduced-price lunch
  program established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
         (e)  If a court holds a hearing and finds that a person is
  indigent based on the information provided to the court by the
  person under Subsection (d), the court shall notify the department
  that the person is indigent.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter B, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 708.056 to read as follows:
         Sec. 708.056.  DEDUCTION OF POINTS. The department by rule
  shall establish a procedure to provide for the deduction of one
  point accumulated by a person under this subchapter to account for
  each year that the person has not accumulated points under this
  subchapter.
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a surcharge that is assessed on or after the effective date of this
  Act.  A surcharge that was assessed before the effective date of
  this Act is subject to the law in effect on the date the surcharge
  was assessed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.