86R7222 BRG-D

By: Patterson H.B. No. 2226

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to procedures for imposing certain administrative penalties or disgorgement orders by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 15.024(e) and (f), Utilities Code, are amended to read as follows:

(e) If the person accepts the executive director's determination and recommended penalty or fails to timely respond to the notice, the commission by order shall approve the determination and impose the recommended penalty or order a hearing on the determination and the recommended penalty.

(f) If the person requests a hearing or the commission orders a hearing under Subsection (e) [fails to timely respond to the notice], the executive director shall set a hearing and give notice of the hearing to the person. The parties to a proceeding under this subchapter shall be limited to the person and the commission, including the independent market monitor. The hearing shall be held by an administrative law judge of the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The administrative law judge shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law and promptly issue to the commission a proposal for a decision about the occurrence of the violation and the amount of a proposed penalty. Based on the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and proposal for a decision, the commission by order may find that a violation has occurred and impose a penalty or disgorgement order or may find that no violation occurred.

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a person who receives notice under Section 15.024(b), Utilities Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. A person who receives notice before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the person received notice, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.