By: Spiller (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 5214
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2023;
  May 5, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on State
  Affairs; May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
 
  COMMITTEE VOTE
 
 
         YeaNayAbsentPNV
         HughesX
         PaxtonX
         BettencourtX
         BirdwellX
         LaMantiaX
         MenéndezX
         MiddletonX
         ParkerX
         PerryX
         SchwertnerX
         ZaffiriniX
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to actions brought by the attorney general on behalf of
  certain persons under the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act
  of 1983.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 15.21, Business & Commerce Code, is
  amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
         (d)  The attorney general may bring a civil action against a
  person on behalf of an individual or governmental entity for injury
  to that individual's or entity's business or property caused,
  directly or indirectly, by the person's violation of Section
  15.05(a), (b), or (c). An action under this subsection may be
  brought in district court in Travis County, or in any county in this
  state in which a named defendant resides, does business, or
  maintains a principal office, or in which the individual or
  governmental entity on whose behalf the action is brought resides
  at the time of the cause of action or any part of the cause of action
  accrues. If the attorney general prevails in an action under this
  subsection, the attorney general shall recover actual damages
  sustained by the individual or governmental entity, interest on
  actual damages for the period beginning on the date of service of
  the attorney general's pleading setting forth a claim under the
  antitrust laws and ending on the date of judgment (the rate of such
  interest to be in accordance with Texas law regarding postjudgment
  interest rates and the amount of interest to be adjusted by the
  court if it finds that the award of all or part of such interest is
  unjust in the circumstances), and the cost of suit, including a
  reasonable attorney's fee, and if applicable, expert witness fees;
  provided, however, that if the trier of fact finds that the unlawful
  conduct was willful or flagrant, the court shall increase the
  recovery to threefold the damages sustained and the cost of suit,
  including a reasonable attorney's fee and, if applicable, expert
  witness fees; provided that interest on actual damages as
  specified above may not be recovered when recovered damages are
  increased threefold. In an action under this subsection in which a
  claim is asserted against a defendant relating to injury to both
  direct and indirect purchasers, the court shall take all steps
  necessary to avoid duplicative recovery from that defendant.
         (e)  For purposes of this section, "governmental entity"
  means:
               (1)  this state, including each department, board,
  agency, instrumentality, authority, or commission of this state;
               (2)  a political subdivision of this state, including a
  county, city, municipality, school district, local improvement
  district, law enforcement authority, or special district,
  including a water, sanitation, fire protection, metropolitan,
  irrigation, drainage, or other special district;
               (3)  a municipal, quasi-municipal, or public
  corporation organized under the Texas Constitution or other law;
  and
               (4)  a department, board, agency, instrumentality,
  authority, or commission of an entity described by Subdivision (2)
  or (3).
         SECTION 2.  Sections 15.21(d) and (e), Business & Commerce
  Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a cause of action that
  accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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