BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1351

By: Cortez

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are concerns that certain veteran information maintained, created, or received by the Texas Veterans Commission, which could be considered sensitive or protected, is at risk of public disclosure and that such disclosure could place the veteran and the veteran's family members in a vulnerable position. C.S.H.B. 1351 seeks to address this concern by providing for the confidentiality of certain information concerning service members of the U.S. armed forces and the state military forces.

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. 1351 amends the Government Code to make confidential and not subject to disclosure under state public information law any information provided by a person to the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) to receive services or participate in TVC programs. The bill excepts from the public availability requirement of state public information law information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, emergency contact information, or social security number of a current or former member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps, or an auxiliary service of one of those branches of the armed forces or that reveals whether the person has family members. The bill makes applicable to a current or former member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps, an auxiliary service of one of those branches of the armed forces, or the Texas National Guard, the Texas State Guard, and any other military force organized under state law statutory provisions relating to the confidentiality of certain personal identifying information of peace officers, county jailers, security officers, employees of certain state agencies or certain criminal or juvenile justice agencies or offices, and federal and state judges.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1351 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 does not include a definition of "veteran." The substitute changes from any information provided to the TVC by a veteran to any information provided to the TVC by any person the information that is confidential and not subject to disclosure under state public information law.

The substitute includes a provision making certain statutory provisions applicable to the confidentiality of certain personal identifying information of peace officers, county jailers, security officers, employees of certain criminal or juvenile justice agencies or offices, and federal and state judges also applicable to certain personal identifying information of a current or former member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps, an auxiliary service of one of those branches of the armed forces, or the Texas National Guard, the Texas State Guard, and any other military force organized under state law.