BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 4121

By: Guillen

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, a vehicle windshield with a sunscreening device is exempt from tint restrictions if the device is not more than 5 inches below the AS-1 line on the vehicle. This law does not account for vehicles that do not have AS-1 lines. H.B. 4121 seeks to address this issue by providing vehicles without an AS-1 line with such an exemption if the sunscreening device on the vehicle is no more than five inches from the top of the windshield.

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. 4121 amends the Transportation Code to change one of the conditions that make a windshield sunscreening device exempt from the current restrictions regarding motor vehicle windows, a violation of which is a misdemeanor offense. Currently, a device is exempt if it has a certain level of light transmission and luminous reflectance, is not red, blue, or amber, and does not extend downward beyond the AS-1 line or more than five inches from the top of the windshield, whichever is closer to the top of the windshield. However, the bill changes the latter condition, but not the former conditions, to specify instead that the device is exempt if it does not extend downward beyond the AS-1 line or, if the windshield does not have an AS-1 line, more than five inches from the top of the windshield. The bill applies only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date and provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.