BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 588

By: González, Mary

House Administration

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There have been calls for the periodic update of legislative drafting conventions to reflect the language used to refer to people in various communities in a way that is respectful, inclusive, and accepted by members of those communities. It has been suggested that certain terms used in statutory provisions referencing members of the deaf community no longer meet that standard. C.S.H.B. 588 seeks to address this issue by directing the state legislature and the Texas Legislative Council to avoid using certain terms in legislative documents.

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.

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. 588 amends the Government Code to direct the legislature and the Texas Legislative Council (TLC) to avoid using the terms "hearing impaired," "auditory impairment," and "speech impaired" in reference to a deaf or hard of hearing person in any new statute or resolution and to replace those phrases when enacting or revising a statute or resolution with "deaf" and "hard of hearing," as appropriate.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 588 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute changes the additional terms and phrases the legislature and TLC are directed to avoid using with respect to those who are deaf or hard of hearing and the phrases that the legislature and TLC are directed to replace those applicable terms and phrases with when enacting or revising a statute or resolution.