BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2691

By: Button

Ways & Means

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

State agencies report to the comptroller of public accounts when a person or business owes outstanding debts or delinquent taxes to the state. The comptroller then holds payments due to a debtor until the debt is paid in full, the agency owed money agrees to the release of the payments, or, after 30 days, when any amount owed over the amount of the debt can be released to the payee. This creates a situation where a vendor that owes a small debt could have multiple payments owed to them held for weeks despite the total amount of the payments owed exceeding the amount of their debt. Some larger vendors receive payments on a daily basis so this can quickly become a problem. C.S.H.B. 2691 seeks to resolve the issue by authorizing the comptroller to release held payments in excess of the amount of outstanding debt while also requiring state agencies to make a reasonable attempt to notify a debtor that the debts are being reported to the comptroller and that payments from the state will be held due to the debt they owe.

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

C.S.H.B. 2691 amends the Government Code to establish an exception to the prohibition in state law against the comptroller of public accounts issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to a debtor or tax delinquent, or to the person's assignee. The bill authorizes the comptroller to issue a warrant or initiate a transfer to the person or their assignee if the comptroller first retains one or more warrants or electronic funds transfers to the person for a total amount that at least equals the amount necessary to fully deduct the amount of the person's indebtedness to the state or tax delinquency from the amount the state owes the person.

C.S.H.B. 2691 requires a state agency to provide a notice to a debtor or delinquent, other than a person reported as indebted on the basis of unpaid child support, at the time the agency makes a report to the comptroller of the person's indebtedness or tax delinquency. This notice must be given in a manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the person and must include the following:

· the person's name;

· the amount of the person's indebtedness or delinquency;

· the agency's contact information;

· any options available to eliminate the indebtedness or delinquency; and

· a statement that the person's indebtedness or delinquency has been reported to the comptroller and the indebtedness or delinquency may prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to the person for any amount owed to the person by the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2691 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced excluding a person reported as indebted to the state on the basis of unpaid child support from the persons a state agency must notify at the time of making a report to the comptroller regarding the person's indebtedness or tax delinquency.