86R11674 JAM-D
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1974
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the issuance of a driver's license, personal
  identification certificate, or birth record to a homeless
  individual.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 191, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 191.0049 to read as follows:
         Sec. 191.0049.  BIRTH RECORD ISSUED TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL.
  (a) In this section, "homeless individual" has the meaning
  provided by Section 521.184, Transportation Code.
         (b)  On request of a homeless individual, the state
  registrar, a local registrar, or a county clerk shall issue,
  without fee, a certified copy of the individual's birth record to
  the individual.
         (c)  The department by rule shall:
               (1)  adopt a process to verify a person's status as a
  homeless individual; and
               (2)  prescribe the documentation necessary for the
  issuance of a certified copy of a birth record to a homeless
  individual.
         (d)  Notwithstanding any other law of this state, the
  department may not require a homeless individual to provide a
  physical address of the individual's residence to satisfy any
  requirement of this section.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter I, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 521.184 to read as follows:
         Sec. 521.184.  ISSUANCE OF LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE TO
  HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL. (a)  In this section, "homeless individual":
               (1)  means an individual who:
                     (A)  lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate
  nighttime residence; or
                     (B)  has a primary nighttime residence that is:
                           (i)  a supervised publicly or privately
  operated shelter designed to provide temporary living
  accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and
  transitional housing for the mentally ill;
                           (ii)  an institution that provides a
  temporary residence for individuals intended to be
  institutionalized; or
                           (iii)  a public or private place not
  designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
  accommodation for human beings; and
               (2)  does not include an individual who is imprisoned
  or otherwise detained in a correctional facility.
         (b)  The department by rule shall:
               (1)  adopt a process to verify a person's status as a
  homeless individual;
               (2)  prescribe the documentation necessary for the
  issuance of a driver's license or personal identification
  certificate to a homeless individual; and
               (3)  exempt a homeless individual from the payment of
  fees under this chapter for the issuance of a driver's license or
  personal identification certificate.
         (c)  For each fee exemption granted by the department under
  Subsection (b)(3), the department shall deposit to the credit of
  the Texas mobility fund the amount of the waived fee that would
  otherwise be deposited to that account.
         (d)  Notwithstanding any other law of this state and to the
  extent permitted under federal law, the department may not require
  a homeless individual to provide a physical address of the
  individual's residence to satisfy any requirement of this chapter.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
  application for a driver's license, personal identification
  certificate, or birth record submitted on or after the effective
  date of this Act. An application for a driver's license, personal
  identification certificate, or birth record submitted before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the application was submitted, and the former law is continued
  in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.