BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3624

By: Thompson, Senfronia

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that certain license holders reentering the workforce after becoming parents should be afforded a reduced license application or reactivation fee to reduce the financial burden on these individuals whose primary job has been caring for their child. C.S.H.B. 3624 seeks to make such a reduced fee available to a former license holder who became a parent by natural birth or adoption in the two-year period preceding the application date, provided the application is for the same type of license the person held immediately before the birth or adoption.

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to a state agency that issues an occupational license in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3624 amends the Occupations Code to require a state agency that issues an occupational license to adopt rules requiring the agency to charge a reduced license application fee or reactivation fee, as applicable, not to exceed one-third of the amount of the usual fee, to an applicant who became a parent by natural birth or adoption in the two-year period preceding the application date and held immediately before the birth or adoption an active license of the same type for which the person is applying. The bill authorizes the rules to require an applicant to submit to the state agency an attestation or other documentation relating to the child's birth or adoption. The bill requires a state agency to adopt and implement the required rules not later than September 1, 2020.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3624 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 includes provisions requiring an applicable state agency to adopt and implement by a specified deadline rules requiring the agency to charge the reduced fees.

The substitute changes the requirement that an applicant submit with the application a copy of the child's birth certificate or adoption order to an authorization for an agency's rules to require an applicant to submit to the agency an attestation or other documentation relating to the child's birth or adoption.