88R6899 LRM-D
 
  By: Jetton, Reynolds, Collier, et al. H.B. No. 1677
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the issuance of a certified birth record, driver's
  license, or personal identification certificate to a homeless
  individual.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 191, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 191.00495 to read as follows:
         Sec. 191.00495.  BIRTH RECORD ISSUED TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL.
  (a)  In this section, "homeless individual":
               (1)  means an individual who:
                     (A)  lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate
  nighttime residence; or
                     (B)  has a primary nighttime residence that is:
                           (i)  a supervised publicly or privately
  operated shelter designed to provide temporary living
  accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and
  transitional housing for persons with mental illness;
                           (ii)  an institution that provides a
  temporary residence for individuals intended to be
  institutionalized; or
                           (iii)  a public or private place not
  designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
  accommodation for human beings; and
               (2)  does not include an individual who is imprisoned
  or otherwise detained in a correctional facility, unless the
  individual satisfies the conditions described by Subdivision (1) at
  the time of the individual's arrest.
         (b)  On request of a homeless individual, the state
  registrar, a local registrar, or a county clerk shall issue,
  without fee, a certified copy of the individual's birth record to
  the individual.
         (c)  The department by rule shall:
               (1)  adopt a process to verify a person's status as a
  homeless individual; and
               (2)  prescribe the documentation necessary for the
  issuance of a certified copy of a birth record to a homeless
  individual whose status is verified through the process adopted
  under Subdivision (1).
         (d)  In adopting a verification process under Subsection
  (c), the department shall allow a person requesting a birth record
  to provide a letter certifying the person is a homeless individual
  that is issued by the director of:
               (1)  an emergency shelter or transitional housing
  program funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
  Development;
               (2)  a shelter for homeless individuals;
               (3)  a transitional living program; or
               (4)  a law enforcement agency of a political
  subdivision of this state that appoints or employs peace officers
  as described by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure.
         (e)  Notwithstanding any other law of this state, the
  department may not require a homeless individual to provide a
  physical address of the individual's residence to satisfy any
  requirement of this section.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter I, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 521.184 to read as follows:
         Sec. 521.184.  ISSUANCE OF LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE TO
  HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL. (a)  In this section, "homeless individual"
  has the meaning assigned by Section 191.00495, Health and Safety
  Code.
         (b)  The department by rule shall:
               (1)  adopt a process to verify a person's status as a
  homeless individual;
               (2)  prescribe the documentation necessary for the
  issuance of a driver's license or personal identification
  certificate to a homeless individual; and
               (3)  exempt a homeless individual from the payment of
  fees under this chapter for the issuance of a driver's license or
  personal identification certificate, subject to Section 521.4265.
         (c)  In adopting a verification process under Subsection
  (b), the department shall allow a person applying for a driver's
  license or personal identification certificate to provide a letter
  certifying the person is a homeless individual that is issued by the
  director of:
               (1)  an emergency shelter or transitional housing
  program funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
  Development;
               (2)  a shelter for homeless individuals;
               (3)  a transitional living program; or
               (4)  a law enforcement agency of a political
  subdivision of this state that appoints or employs peace officers
  as described by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure.
         (d)  Notwithstanding any other law of this state and to the
  extent permitted under federal law, the department may not require
  a homeless individual to provide a physical address of the
  individual's residence to satisfy any requirement of this chapter.
         (e)  Rules adopted under this section regarding the issuance
  of a personal identification certificate to a homeless child or
  youth, as defined by Section 521.1015, must be consistent with the
  provisions of that section.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 521.4265(b) and (c), Transportation
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  From the money in the identification fee exemption
  account the department shall:
               (1)  request that the comptroller transfer to the Texas
  Workforce Commission amounts sufficient to cover the cost of
  implementing the program under Section 521.168, including amounts
  sufficient for the payment by the Texas Workforce Commission of:
                     (A)  fees to entities other than the department;
  and
                     (B)  the Texas Workforce Commission's
  implementation costs; and
               (2)  for each exemption granted under Section 521.1015,
  521.1016, [or] 521.1811, or 521.184, deposit to the credit of the
  Texas mobility fund an amount that is equal to the amount of the
  waived fee that would otherwise be deposited to the mobility fund.
         (c)  The department may not:
               (1)  request a transfer under Subsection (b)(1) if the
  balance of the account for the fiscal year is less than three times
  the amount expended in the previous fiscal year for the waivers
  provided by Sections 521.1015(e), [and] 521.1811, and 521.184; or
               (2)  grant an exemption under Section 521.1015,
  521.1016, [or] 521.1811, or 521.184, if money is not available in
  the identification fee exemption account to meet the requirements
  of Subsection (b)(2).
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
  application for a birth record, driver's license, or personal
  identification certificate submitted on or after the effective date
  of this Act. An application for a birth record, driver's license, or
  personal identification certificate submitted before the effective
  date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
  application was submitted, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.