BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1541

By: McClendon

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Crime prevention advocates say that no correlation exists between grants awarded by the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority and the rate of automobile burglary or theft in the state.  In addition, advocates say, grantees determine their own goals and assess their progress in meeting the goals through self-reporting.  H.B. 1541 seeks to remedy this situation by addressing statutory provisions relating to performance measures for grants, allocation of grants, and certain other related matters. 

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

H.B. 1541 amends Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes, to require the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority to do the following: develop and use standard performance measures for each category of grants provided by the authority in order to assess grantee success in achieving its purposes; and ensure that grants are used to help increase the recovery rate of stolen motor vehicles, the clearance rate of motor vehicle burglaries and thefts, and the number of persons arrested for motor vehicle burglary and theft. The bill requires the authority to allocate grant funds primarily based on the number of motor vehicles stolen in, or the motor vehicle burglary or theft rate across, Texas, rather than based on geographic distribution. The bill makes these provisions applicable only in relation to a grant for which the notice of funds availability or of funding opportunity is made public on or after the effective date of the bill.

H.B. 1541 requires the authority's plan of operation to be updated biennially and filed with the legislature on or before December 1 of each even-numbered year.

H.B. 1541 authorizes, rather than requires, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to administer the existing statewide motor vehicle registration program developed by the authority and makes provisions of law relating to the program apply only if DPS administers the program.

H.B. 1541 requires DPS to collect data regarding theft rates and types of motor vehicles enrolled in the statewide motor vehicle registration program, the recovery rate for stolen motor vehicles enrolled in the program, and the clearance rate of burglaries and thefts of motor vehicles enrolled in the program.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.