BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 453

By: Dukes

Public Health

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Medical professionals and other applicable individuals currently must renew a controlled substances registration every year, and there is currently no online process for this renewal. Interested parties contend that it often takes a significant amount of time for the Department of Public Safety to process renewal requests and that individuals seeking to renew a registration run the risk of having an expired license because of processing delays. Noting that Drug Enforcement Administration officials are required to renew their license every three years and are able to do so in an automated process online, the parties assert that allowing individuals to renew a registration every three years instead of every year and that establishing an online renewal process will increase efficiency in the license renewal system. C.S.H.B. 453 seeks to address these issues.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the public safety director of the Department of Public Safety in SECTION 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 453 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to implement an electronic registration program on the department's Internet website to allow a registrant to submit over the Internet a registration renewal application under the Texas Controlled Substances Act and the payment of any applicable fee.  The bill requires the public safety director of DPS to adopt rules as necessary to implement the program, including rules establishing procedures as appropriate to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and security of renewal applications submitted electronically.

C.S.H.B. 453 extends the period during which a registration under the Texas Controlled Substances Act is valid from the first to the third anniversary of the date of issuance and makes a registration renewable every three years, rather than annually.  The bill increases the amount of the fee for processing an application for an initial or renewal registration from not more than $25 to not more than $75.  The bill shortens the deadline by which the director is required to send a renewal notice to the registrant from not later than 60 days to not later than 90 days before the date the registration expires. The bill requires the director to send such a notice to the e-mail address provided by the registrant if the registrant has indicated to DPS a preference to receive notifications electronically. The bill's provisions apply to the application for an initial registration or renewal of a registration submitted on or after September 1, 2014.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 453 differs from the original only by amending the caption.