87R9284 TSS-D
 
  By: Martinez Fischer, Guillen H.B. No. 2725
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to increasing the criminal penalty for using certain
  materially false or misleading statements in the commission of the
  offense of fraudulent use or possession of identifying information.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 32.51(c-1), Penal Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (c-1)  An offense described for purposes of punishment by
  Subsections (c)(1)-(3) is increased to the next higher category of
  offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
               (1)  the offense was committed against an elderly
  individual as defined by Section 22.04; [or]
               (2)  the actor fraudulently used identifying
  information with the intent to facilitate an offense under Article
  62.102, Code of Criminal Procedure; or 
               (3)  the actor used a materially false or misleading
  statement regarding the availability, provision, or distribution
  of a vaccine to obtain the identifying information.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
  before that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.