Bill Text: TX HB1677 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the issuance of a certified birth record, driver's license, or personal identification certificate to a homeless individual.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-01 - Referred to State Affairs [HB1677 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB1677-Engrossed.html
88R6899 LRM-D | ||
By: Jetton, Reynolds, Collier, et al. | H.B. No. 1677 |
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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, [ |
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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), [ |
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(2) grant an exemption under Section 521.1015, | ||
521.1016, [ |
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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. |