BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2262

By: Schofield

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In Texas, local governments with a fleet of motor vehicles must register their vehicles annually. Local governments with fleets of hundreds of motor vehicles find themselves performing renewals monthly throughout the calendar year. The annual acquisition and distribution of plates, stickers, and registration cards is time-consuming, costly, and creates operational deficiencies in local government. C.S.H.B. 2262 seeks to improve local governmental operations and help local governmental entities avoid potential service disruptions by providing a system for a registration period of up to eight years for a local government's fleet of vehicles.

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 the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2262 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) to develop and implement a system of registration to allow an owner of a fleet of vehicles exempt from the payment of registration fees to register those vehicles for an extended registration period of not less than one year or more than eight years. The bill sets out requirements for the system relating to the number of years for registration and to the registration of the fleet in a county or directly with TxDMV. The bill subjects a vehicle, semitrailer, or trailer in the exempt fleet to the same inspection requirements as vehicles without the extended registration periods. The bill requires TxDMV to adopt rules to implement the system of registration, including rules regarding the suspension of an exempt fleet's registration and rules establishing a method to enforce inspection requirements for the exempt fleet vehicles.       

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2262 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 the following:

· a requirement for TxDMV to develop and implement a system for the extended registration of exempt fleet vehicles;

· requirements for the registration system;

· a provision subjecting a vehicle, semitrailer, or trailer in the exempt fleet to the same inspection requirements as vehicles without the extended registration periods; and

· a requirement for TxDMV to adopt rules to implement the registration system.

The substitute does not include an authorization for a county or municipality that owns and operates fleet vehicles to choose to register those vehicles for an extended registration and inspection period of three years.

The substitute changes the bill's effective date from on passage or September 1, 2021, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote for immediate effect to September 1, 2021.