BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2025

By: Hunter

State Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In previous regular legislative sessions following the decennial U.S. census, the state legislature has passed a bill to update population brackets in statute that limit the applicability of those statutes to certain political subdivisions. Because of the delay in the release of the 2020 census data, the legislature will be unable to pass a similar bill during the current legislative session. To preserve the applicability of these statutes until such time as the legislature is able to pass an update bill, H.B. 2025 seeks to continue to apply the 2010 census numbers to statutory population brackets until 2023. In addition, under normal circumstances, governmental entities are given a period of months to make adjustments made necessary by the release of new census data. Because of the delayed release of the data this year, governmental entities will have little to no time to adjust to the new data. H.B. 2025 seeks to provide a transition period for years in which the census is delayed that is similar to the transition period when data is released in the normal time frame.

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

H.B. 2025 amends the Government Code to require a governmental entity to recognize and act on a published federal decennial census report or count on the later of either of the following dates:

·       September 1 of the year after the calendar year during which the census was taken; or

·       the first day of the first calendar month occurring after the 150th day after the date of publication.

H.B. 2025 provides that the population figures from the 2010 federal census continue to apply with respect to a statute that applies to a political subdivision having a certain population according to the most recent federal census until September 1, 2023. The bill specifies that a statute does not apply to a political subdivision to which the statute did not apply under the 2010 federal census, regardless of whether the subdivision has the population prescribed by the statute according to the 2020 federal census.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2021.