During the 82nd Texas Legislature, Texas House Members and Texas Senate Members worked on numerous pieces of legislation, some big and some small. With many of these pieces of legislation going into effect on September 1, 2011, I thought it would be good opportunity to help keep you up-to-date by outlining the new laws we are all going to be required to live under. Some of these pieces of legislation affect our day to day lives, while others affect how Texas businesses operate within the state. Other legislation seeks to address criminal activity.
In order for these pieces of legislation to pass, they had to work through a grueling 140 day regular Legislative Session.
• Senate Bill (SB) 529 was the Senate companion to House Bill (HB) 2293 which I was proud to be the author. SB 529 addresses the relationship between motor vehicle manufacturers/distributors and their franchised dealers, which is governed by a franchise agreement between the parties. Given the current economic and financial conditions, the retail automobile industry has experienced in the past two years the loss of several dealerships. The new law has several provisions designed to address certain practices which threatened the viability of Texas’s franchised dealerships and the automobile industry. With the passage of SB 529, Texas dealerships and the industry are provided with a stronger and more stable business environment, thereby protecting Texas jobs.
• HB 25 addresses an ambiguous section of current law which does not clearly address the authority of a person to carry a weapon in the person’s watercraft. Individuals in Texas are currently allowed to carry a weapon in a person’s home, to and from the person’s vehicle, and in the person’s vehicle, as authorized by Texas statute under certain circumstances. With HB 25 passing and being signed by the Governor, individuals in Texas will be allowed to carry a firearm in their watercraft for the means of protection. It is important to remember that the statute requires that the firearm not be carried in plain view and that the individual may not be involved in certain criminal activity.
• HB 438 improves patient access to oral drugs by requiring health insurers to provide coverage for oral medications on a basis no less favorable than intravenously administered or injected medications. The goal is to help in oral anticancer medications. To ensure that this legislation does not result in increased costs of intravenous treatments, H.B. 438 requires that, in the event of a cost increase for intravenous treatments, the health plan must justify to the Texas Department of Insurance that the increase is directly related to and necessitated by the health plan’s increase in cost for the intravenous medication.
Each of these laws will go into effect beginning on September 1, 2011. It is important to learn and know about the new laws that were passed by the 82nd Texas Legislature. In next week’s article, I will continue to outline other pieces of legislation which I think are important to be aware of. If you would like to view any of the other legislation that was passed during the 82nd Regular Session and the first called special session on your own, these websites are great resources:
• The Texas Legislature
• The Texas House of Representatives
• The Texas Senate
If you have questions regarding any of the information mentioned in this article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
