BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 384

By: Menendez

Culture, Recreation & Tourism

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Some interested parties are concerned that the prohibited use of a registration decal for certain vessels, although currently addressed in law, remains an issue. C.S.H.B. 384 seeks to strengthen provisions of law prohibiting such use by specifying and defining the violation of fraudulent use of Parks and Wildlife Department registration decals as applied to boats and the sale of boats.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 384 amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to prohibit a person from displaying on a vessel a registration decal that is altered, fraudulent, or issued under a certificate of number assigned to another vessel.

C.S.H.B. 384 prohibits a person from intentionally selling, offering to sell, or purchasing a vessel with a hull identification number, or an outboard motor with a serial number, that has been altered, defaced, mutilated, or removed.  The bill makes it a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor offense to violate this prohibition.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 384 differs from the original by prohibiting a person from intentionally selling, offering to sell, or purchasing a vessel with a hull identification number, or an outboard motor with a serial number, that has been altered, defaced, mutilated, or removed, rather than prohibiting a person from performing such actions, regardless of the person's intent, as in the original.