Bill Text: TX HB794 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to limitations on the enforcement of certain occupational regulations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-12 - Filed [HB794 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HB794-Introduced.html
89R1290 RDR-F | ||
By: Harrison | H.B. No. 794 |
|
||
|
||
relating to limitations on the enforcement of certain occupational | ||
regulations. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Title 1, Occupations Code, is amended by adding | ||
Chapter 2 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 2. LIMITATION ON ENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN OCCUPATIONAL | ||
REGULATIONS | ||
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS | ||
Sec. 2.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "License" means a nontransferable and exclusive | ||
authorization issued by a licensing authority authorizing an | ||
individual, based on the established personal qualifications, to | ||
engage in a particular occupation. | ||
(2) "Licensing authority" means a department, | ||
commission, board, office, or other agency of this state or a | ||
political subdivision of this state that issues a license, | ||
specialty occupational license for medical reimbursement, | ||
registration, certificate, permit, or other authorization related | ||
to an occupation. | ||
(3) "Occupational regulation" means any regulation, | ||
rule, policy, fee, condition, test, permit, administrative | ||
practice, or other provision in which a licensing authority | ||
establishes the personal qualifications necessary to engage in any | ||
occupation or profession. The term does not include a license. | ||
(4) "Personal qualifications" means criteria related | ||
to an individual's personal background and characteristics related | ||
to eligibility for a license including: | ||
(A) educational attainment; | ||
(B) passage of an examination; | ||
(C) work experience; | ||
(D) character; and | ||
(E) criminal history. | ||
(5) "Specialty occupational license for medical | ||
reimbursement" means a nontransferable authorization to perform a | ||
medical service that is: | ||
(A) required for an individual to be eligible to | ||
receive payment or reimbursement from a governmental agency or | ||
other entity for providing medical services; and | ||
(B) issued by a licensing authority to an | ||
individual who meets the established personal qualifications. | ||
(6) "Welfare" means an action to protect the public | ||
against fraud or harm. The term does not include an action to | ||
protect an existing public or private entity against competition. | ||
Sec. 2.002. POLICY. It is the policy of this state that all | ||
occupational regulations must be limited to those demonstrably | ||
necessary and carefully tailored to fulfill legitimate public | ||
health, safety, and welfare objectives. | ||
Sec. 2.003. REVIEW REQUIRED. (a) Not later than September | ||
1, 2026, each licensing authority shall conduct a comprehensive | ||
review of each occupational regulation applicable to a license | ||
issued by the authority and for each occupational regulation: | ||
(1) specify the public health, safety, or welfare | ||
objective served by the regulation and the reason the regulation is | ||
necessary to serve each objective; | ||
(2) analyze, based on any available information, the | ||
effects of the regulation on: | ||
(A) opportunities for workers; | ||
(B) consumer choices and costs; | ||
(C) general unemployment; | ||
(D) market competition; | ||
(E) governmental costs; and | ||
(F) other related measures; and | ||
(3) compare the regulation with how the applicable | ||
business or profession is regulated in other states. | ||
(b) A licensing authority shall for any occupational | ||
regulation determined during a review under Subsection (a) to | ||
violate the policy provided by Section 2.002: | ||
(1) repeal the regulation or modify the regulation to | ||
conform to the policy provided by Section 2.002, if the authority is | ||
authorized by law to do so; or | ||
(2) recommend that the legislature repeal the | ||
regulation or take any other action necessary to modify the | ||
regulation to conform to the policy provided by Section 2.002. | ||
(c) Not later than December 1, 2026, each licensing | ||
authority shall submit to the legislature a report summarizing any | ||
actions taken by the authority under Subsection (b)(1) and any | ||
recommendations made under Subsection (b)(2). | ||
(d) This section expires September 1, 2027. | ||
SUBCHAPTER B. ENFORCEMENT | ||
Sec. 2.051. PETITION FOR REPEAL OR MODIFICATION. (a) A | ||
person may petition a licensing authority to repeal or modify an | ||
occupational regulation applicable to a license issued by the | ||
authority if the regulation violates the policy provided by Section | ||
2.002. | ||
(b) Not later than the 90th day after the date a licensing | ||
authority receives a petition under Subsection (a), the authority | ||
shall: | ||
(1) repeal the regulation; | ||
(2) modify the regulation to conform to the policy | ||
provided by Section 2.002; | ||
(3) state the reasons the authority has determined | ||
that the regulation does not violate the policy provided by Section | ||
2.002; or | ||
(4) notify the petitioner that the authority is not | ||
authorized under law to repeal or modify the regulation. | ||
Sec. 2.052. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. (a) A person may bring an | ||
action for an injunction against the enforcement of an occupational | ||
regulation in a district court in Travis County or any county in | ||
which the regulation is enforced. | ||
(b) A person is entitled to relief from an occupational | ||
regulation if the court finds by a preponderance of evidence that | ||
the occupational regulation on its face or in its effect burdens the | ||
entry into a profession or occupation and: | ||
(1) the licensing authority is unable to prove by a | ||
preponderance of evidence that the regulation is not demonstrably | ||
necessary and carefully tailored to fulfill legitimate public | ||
health, safety, or welfare objectives; or | ||
(2) if the regulation is necessary to the legitimate | ||
public health, safety, or welfare objectives as demonstrated under | ||
Subdivision (1), the objective can be effectively served by using a | ||
less restrictive regulation that is less burdensome to economic | ||
opportunity. | ||
(c) In determining whether an occupational regulation is | ||
less restrictive for purposes of Subsection (b)(2), the following | ||
list represents regulations from least restrictive to most | ||
restrictive: | ||
(1) market competition; | ||
(2) ratings or reviews from consumers or third | ||
parties; | ||
(3) private certification; | ||
(4) voluntary bonding or insurance; | ||
(5) existence of a specific private cause of action to | ||
remedy a consumer harm; | ||
(6) a law prohibiting deceptive trade practices; | ||
(7) a requirement for mandatory disclosure to a | ||
consumer of attributes of a specific good or service; | ||
(8) a restriction on the process of providing a | ||
specific good or service to a consumer; | ||
(9) inspection requirements; | ||
(10) a requirement that an individual obtain a bond or | ||
insurance; | ||
(11) a statute, rule, or policy requiring registration | ||
with a licensing authority; | ||
(12) a statute, rule, or policy requiring | ||
certification by a licensing authority; | ||
(13) a specialty occupational license for medical | ||
reimbursement; and | ||
(14) a statute, rule, or policy requiring licensing by | ||
a licensing authority. | ||
(d) The court shall award to a plaintiff who prevails under | ||
this section reasonable attorney's fees and costs. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |