BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2267

By: Paul

Insurance

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, a person must purchase a permit from a licensed manufacturer, distributor, or jobber or from the state fire marshal's office in order to obtain a retail fireworks permit. The manufacturers, distributors, and jobbers must obtain the permits in books containing 20 permits each from the commissioner of insurance, and the books, which contain carbon copies of each permit sold, are returned to the commissioner through the state fire marshal's office at the end of the fireworks season. Finally, information from permits that were sold must be manually entered, and refunds are issued for any unsold permits. This process leads to higher costs, delays in the state receiving accurate information on the location of firework stands, and increased risk of data entry errors. H.B. 2267 seeks to modernize the inefficient paper process by providing instead for fireworks permits to be sold directly to consumers online through a website provided by the commissioner.

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. 2267 amends the Occupations Code to remove the authorization for retail fireworks permits to be purchased from a licensed manufacturer, distributor, or jobber or from the state fire marshal's office and to repeal provisions of that code relating to that process. The bill requires the commissioner of insurance instead to provide for the sale of those permits through a website and authorizes a person to purchase a permit on that website. The bill requires the Texas Department of Insurance to post a link to the permit website on its website. The bill repeals a provision providing for the process for exchange of an outdated permit.

H.B. 2267 repeals Sections 2154.202(d) and (f), Occupations Code.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.