87R7652 JES-D
 
  By: Lucio III H.B. No. 1634
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation of call centers; providing a civil
  penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 113 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 113. CALL CENTERS
  SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
         Sec. 113.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
               (1)  "Call center" means a business entity or a
  division of a business entity with a primary purpose involving
  initiating or receiving telephone communications on behalf of a
  person for the purpose of initiating sales, including making a
  telephone solicitation as defined by Section 302.001, providing
  services, or providing or receiving information in connection with
  the provision of services.
               (2)  "Customer" means a resident of this state who
  receives a call from or places a call to a call center.
               (3)  "Customer service employee" means a person
  employed by or working on behalf of a call center.
               (4)  "Department" means the Texas Department of
  Insurance.
               (5)  "Public agency" means this state or an agency,
  instrumentality, or political subdivision of this state, including
  a county, municipality, public school district, or special-purpose
  district or authority.
               (6)  "Public subsidy" means a program, benefit, or
  assistance of any type offered by a public agency that is designed
  to stimulate the economic development of a corporation, industry,
  or sector of the state's economy or to create or retain jobs in this
  state. The term includes grants, loans, loan guarantees, benefits
  relating to an enterprise or empowerment zone, fee waivers, land
  price subsidies, infrastructure development and improvements
  designed to principally benefit a single business or defined group
  of businesses, matching funds, tax refunds, tax rebates, or tax
  abatements offered by a public agency.
         Sec. 113.002.  APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to a
  business that is a call center or operates a call center only if the
  business:
               (1)  has at least 50 customer service employees located
  in this state, excluding customer service employees who work less
  than 20 hours per week; or
               (2)  has at least 50 customer service employees located
  in this state who, in the aggregate, work a total of at least 1,500
  hours per week.
  SUBCHAPTER B. RELOCATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE EMPLOYEE POSITIONS
         Sec. 113.101.  NOTICE REQUIRED; CIVIL PENALTY. (a)  A
  business shall notify the department if the business plans to:
               (1)  terminate customer service employee positions in
  this state that handle at least 50 percent of total customer service
  call volume for the business, as measured against the previous 12
  months' average customer service call volume of the business; and
               (2)  relocate the duties of those positions to persons
  in one or more call centers located outside of the United States.
         (b)  The business shall notify the department of its intent
  to terminate and relocate the positions at least 60 days before the
  termination or relocation of the positions. A business receiving a
  public subsidy at the time of notification shall additionally
  notify the department that the business is receiving a public
  subsidy when providing the notification to the department under
  this subsection.
         (c)  A business that violates this section is liable to this
  state for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for
  each day that the business is in violation.
         (d)  The attorney general may bring suit to recover the
  civil penalty imposed under Subsection (c).
         Sec. 113.102.  LIST OF BUSINESSES THAT RELOCATE CUSTOMER
  SERVICE EMPLOYEE POSITIONS. (a) The department shall maintain a
  list of businesses that, while receiving a public subsidy, have
  terminated and relocated customer service employee positions as
  described by Section 113.101.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a business that is
  added to the list may not be removed from the list before the fifth
  anniversary of the date the business was added to the list.
         (c)  The department shall make the list available to the
  public and shall semiannually distribute the list to all state
  agencies and the Better Business Bureau.
         (d)  The department shall remove a business from the list if
  the business relocates in this state as many customer service
  employee positions as the business terminated and relocated causing
  the business to be added to the list.
         Sec. 113.103.  LIST OF BUSINESSES THAT MAINTAIN CUSTOMER
  SERVICE EMPLOYEE POSITIONS. (a) The department shall maintain a
  list of businesses that, while receiving a public subsidy, have not
  terminated or relocated customer service employee positions as
  described by Section 113.101.
         (b)  A business may request to be added to the list and the
  department shall add the business to the list if, while receiving a
  public subsidy, the business has not terminated or relocated
  customer service employee positions.
         (c)  The department shall make the list available to the
  public and shall semiannually distribute the list to all state
  agencies and the Better Business Bureau.
         (d)  The department shall remove a business from the list if
  the business, while receiving a public subsidy, terminates or
  relocates customer service employee positions as described by
  Section 113.101.
  SUBCHAPTER C. PUBLIC AGENCY CONTRACTS AND SUBSIDIES
         Sec. 113.201.  PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN BUSINESSES. In
  awarding a contract for services, a public agency shall give
  preference to a vendor, bidder, contractor, or subcontractor that
  does not appear on the list maintained under Section 113.102.
         Sec. 113.202.  PUBLIC SUBSIDIES PROHIBITED. (a) Except as
  provided by Subsection (b), a public agency may not award or provide
  a public subsidy to a business that appears on the list maintained
  under Section 113.102.
         (b)  A public agency, after consulting with the department,
  may award a public subsidy if the business applying for the subsidy
  shows that the refusal to grant the subsidy would:
               (1)  result in substantial job loss in the state; or
               (2)  harm the environment.
         Sec. 113.203.  REPAYMENT OF PUBLIC SUBSIDY. A business that
  has received a public subsidy and that is placed on the list
  maintained under Section 113.102 after the business was awarded the
  public subsidy shall repay the full amount of the public subsidy.
  SUBCHAPTER D. STATE AGENCY CALL CENTERS
         Sec. 113.301.  STATE AGENCY CALL CENTERS. (a)  All call
  center services performed on behalf of a state agency must be
  performed in this state.
         (b)  This section does not apply to services performed on
  behalf of the Title IV-D agency under Subchapter D, Chapter 231,
  Family Code.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 113, Business & Commerce Code, as added
  by this Act, applies only to a bid for a contract submitted or an
  application for a public subsidy filed on or after the effective
  date of this Act. A bid for a contract submitted or an application
  filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
  in effect on the date the bid was submitted or the application was
  filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2022.