88R9860 SCL-D

By: Lopez of Cameron H.B. No. 1918

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to publication by the attorney general of a contingent fee contract for legal services for political subdivisions and related information.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 2254.1038(b), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Within 90 days after receiving a contract from a political subdivision, the attorney general:

(1) shall publish the contract and the information filed under Subsection (a) related to the contract on the attorney general's Internet website; and

(2) may:

(A) [(1)] approve the contract;

(B) [(2)] refuse to approve the contract because the requirements of this subchapter were not fulfilled; or

(C) [(3)] refuse to approve the contract because:

(i) [(A)] the legal matter that is the subject of the contract presents one or more questions of law or fact that are in common with a matter the state has already addressed or is pursuing; and

(ii) [(B)] pursuit of the matter by the political subdivision will not promote the just and efficient resolution of the matter.

SECTION 2. Section 2254.1038(b), Government Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a contract filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A contract filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.