BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3262

By: Hunter

State Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The November 2021 Astroworld Festival tragedy highlighted the need for better coordination between local entities responsible for overseeing mass gathering events. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the governor formed a Task Force on Concert Safety to evaluate ways to improve public safety at concerts and other large-scale events. C.S.H.B. 3262 seeks to build on the recommendations made by the task force by providing for the extension of powers and duties under the Texas Mass Gatherings Act to a municipality.

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. 3262 amends the Health and Safety Code to change the entity with whom a promoter is required to file a permit application under the Texas Mass Gatherings Act from only the county judge of the county in which the mass gathering will be held to the following permitting authorities:

· if the mass gathering will be held at a location wholly or partly within a county's unincorporated area, the county judge; or

· if the mass gathering will be held at a location wholly within a municipality, the municipality's governing body.

The bill removes the specification from the definition of "mass gathering" under the act that such a gathering is held outside the limits of a municipality and makes related changes to provide for the applicable extension of powers and duties under the act to a municipality, including by doing the following:

· including a municipal health authority, a municipal fire marshal, and the municipal police chief of a municipality within which the mass gathering will be wholly located within the scope of those powers and duties, as applicable;

· specifying that the sheriff to whom a copy of a permit application must be sent is the sheriff of a county within which a mass gathering will be wholly or partly located in the county's unincorporated area; and

· changing from the commissioners court to the applicable permitting authority the entity required to designate a person to investigate preparations for a mass gathering if there is no county fire marshal in the county.

The bill defines "health authority" for the act's purposes as a physician appointed under the Local Public Health Reorganization Act or by the governing body of a municipality, county, or public health district to administer state and local laws relating to public health.

C.S.H.B. 3262 exempts the following from the act:

· a municipality that adopts and maintains ordinances relating to mass gatherings with standards equal to or more stringent than the standards prescribed by the act;

· a municipality that adopts and maintains an event ordinance requiring an event promoter or sponsor to obtain a municipal permit and submit an emergency service and fire safety plan before holding a mass gathering; and

· a facility that obtains a certificate of occupancy or other permit issued by a municipality or county authorizing an anticipated number of attendees for an event at the facility.

C.S.H.B. 3262 amends the Local Government Code to require a sports and community venue district to contract with appropriate fire and emergency medical services departments for the municipality or the emergency services district in which the venue is located for all goods and services related to fire suppression and emergency medical care.

C.S.H.B. 3262 establishes that its Texas Mass Gatherings Act provisions do not apply to a mass gathering on property that is subject to an interlocal agreement entered into before the bill's effective date between a municipality and county, provided the agreement addresses the occurrence of specific events and requires a medical plan, security plan, and license agreement.

The act, as amended by the bill, applies only to a mass gathering occurring on or after March 1, 2024.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3262 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.

Whereas the substitute removes the specification in the definition of "mass gathering" under the Texas Mass Gatherings Act that such a gathering is held outside the limits of a municipality, the introduced did not revise that definition.

The substitute includes provisions absent in the introduced that exempt the following from the act:

· a municipality that adopts and maintains ordinances relating to mass gatherings with standards equal to or more stringent than the standards prescribed by the act;

· a facility that obtains a certificate of occupancy or other permit issued by a municipality or county authorizing an anticipated number of attendees for an event at the facility.

With regard to the requirement for the permitting authority to send a copy of a permit application to the sheriff of a county within which a mass gathering will be wholly or partly located in a certain area of the county, whereas the introduced specified such area as the incorporated area of the county, the substitute specifies such area as the unincorporated area of the county.

With regard to the condition under which a permitting authority is required to designate a person to investigate preparations for a mass gathering, whereas the introduced changed the condition from there being no county fire marshal in that county to there being no fire marshal without further specification, the substitute retains the condition of there being no county fire marshal in the county.

The substitute includes a provision absent in the introduced that establishes that the bill's Texas Mass Gatherings Act provisions do not apply to a mass gathering on property that is subject to an interlocal agreement entered into before the bill's effective date between a municipality and county, provided the agreement addresses the occurrence of specific events and requires a medical plan, security plan, and license agreement.