BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.S.B. 1501 |
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By: Zaffirini |
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Licensing & Administrative Procedures |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties note a recent strategic planning process undertaken by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation indicated that certain regulations and licensing requirements involving vehicle towing, booting, and storage could be eliminated without endangering public health, safety, or welfare. C.S.S.B. 1501 seeks to remove some of these regulations and revise certain authority to conduct booting and towing activities.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.S.B. 1501 amends the Occupations Code to replace the prohibition against a person who does not hold an appropriate license under the Texas Towing and Booting Act performing booting operations or operating a booting company with an authorization for a person to do so unless the person is prohibited by a local authority, defined by the bill as a state or local governmental entity, an institution of higher education, or a political subdivision of the state authorized to regulate traffic or parking. The bill repeals certain statutory provisions relating to a boot operator's license and booting company license. The bill narrows the scope of the exemption from the Texas Towing and Booting Act applicable to certain persons as regards the installation or removal of a boot from the entirety of the act to certain specified provisions of the act, as amended or added by the bill, that relate to the booting of vehicles. The bill makes these provisions effective September 1, 2018, and establishes that a boot operator's license and a booting company license expire on that date.
C.S.S.B. 1501 replaces Texas Towing and Booting Act provisions authorizing a municipality to adopt an ordinance that is identical to the booting provisions in that act or that imposes additional requirements that exceed the minimum standards of, but does not conflict with, those provisions, to regulate the fees that may be charged in connection with the booting of a vehicle, and to require booting companies to obtain a permit to operate in the municipality with a provision authorizing a local authority to regulate, in areas in which the entity regulates parking or traffic, booting activities, including operation of booting companies and operators that operate on a parking facility, any permit and sign requirements in connection with the booting of a vehicle, and fees that may be charged in connection with the booting of a vehicle. The bill requires regulations adopted under that bill provision to incorporate the requirements of provisions relating to the booting of an unauthorized vehicle and the bill's provisions relating to boot removal, to include procedures for vehicle owners and operators to file a complaint with the local authority regarding a booting company or operator, and to provide for the imposition of a penalty on a booting company or operator for a violation of the bill's provisions relating to boot removal.
C.S.S.B. 1501 includes among the statements required to be included in a notice a boot operator who installs a boot on an unauthorized vehicle must affix to the vehicle, in the manner prescribed by the local authority, notice of the procedure to file a complaint with the local authority for a violation of the Texas Towing and Booting Act by a boot operator. The bill requires a booting company responsible for the installation of a boot on a vehicle to remove the boot not later than one hour after the time the owner or operator of the vehicle contacts the company to request removal of the boot and requires a booting company that fails to have the boot removed within that prescribed time to waive the amount of the fee for the boot removal, excluding any associated parking fees. The bill prohibits a booting company responsible for the installation of more than one boot on a vehicle from charging a total amount for the removal of the boots that is greater than the amount of the fee for the removal of a single boot.
C.S.S.B. 1501 authorizes an individual designated by a university, defined by the bill as a certain public senior college or university or a certain private or independent institution of higher education, to request that a vehicle parked at a university parking facility be towed to another location on the university campus to facilitate a special event. The bill prohibits a vehicle from being towed from a university to facilitate a special event unless signs meeting specified criteria are installed on the parking facility for the 72 hours preceding towing enforcement for the special event and for 48 hours after the conclusion of the special event. The bill requires personnel to be available if a vehicle is towed from a university to facilitate a special event to release the vehicle within two hours after a request for release of the vehicle and to accept any payment required for the release of the vehicle. The bill prohibits a university from charging a fee for such a tow that exceeds 75 percent of the private property tow fee established by rule of the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation. The bill specifies that a vehicle towed from a university to facilitate a special event that is not claimed by the vehicle owner or operator within 48 hours after the conclusion of the special event may only be towed without further expense to the vehicle owner or operator and to another location on the university campus. The bill requires the university to notify the owner or operator of a vehicle towed to facilitate a special event of the right of the vehicle owner or operator to a hearing. The bill exempts a vehicle towed from a university to facilitate a special event from a provision requiring a towing company making a nonconsent tow to tow the vehicle to a vehicle storage facility operated by a person licensed to operate the facility.
C.S.S.B. 1501 replaces the authorization for a towing company, without the consent of an owner or operator of an unauthorized vehicle, to remove and store the vehicle at a vehicle storage facility at the expense of the vehicle's owner or operator if the towing company, in addition to other applicable statutory requirements, has received written verification from the parking facility owner that the parking facility owner has installed certain required signs with an authorization for a towing company, without such consent, to tow the vehicle to and store the vehicle at a vehicle storage facility at the expense of the vehicle's owner or operator if the towing company, in addition to other applicable statutory requirements, has received written verification from the parking facility owner that the signs required under those statutory provisions are posted. The bill establishes that when a tow truck is used for a nonconsent tow authorized by a peace officer under Transportation Code provisions relating to the removal of personal property from a roadway or right-of-way the tow truck operator and the towing company are agents of the law enforcement agency and are subject to those provisions as regards immunity from liability for certain damages and certain exceptions to that immunity. These bill provisions relating to the towing of an unauthorized vehicle expressly do not apply to the booting of a vehicle under a standing written agreement between a booting company and a parking facility owner entered into before the bill's effective date.
C.S.S.B. 1501 renames the Towing, Storage, and Booting Advisory Board as the Towing and Storage Advisory Board and revises the composition of the board. These bill provisions expressly do not affect the entitlement of a member serving on the board immediately before the bill's effective date to continue to serve and function as a member of the board for the remainder of the member's term.
C.S.S.B. 1501 repeals the following provisions of the Occupations Code: · Section 2308.002(9) · Section 2308.103(d) · effective September 1, 2018, Section 2308.1555 · effective September 1, 2018, Section 2308.1556
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EFFECTIVE DATE
Except as otherwise provided, on passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF SENATE ENGROSSED AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.S.B. 1501 may differ from the engrossed in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the engrossed and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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