HBA-NLM, BTC H.B. 866 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 866 By: Puente Elections 4/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires a candidate for public office, elected to serve a political unit, to be a resident of the political unit. There is concern that occasionally a candidate may not reside in the area to be represented. The purpose of this bill is to ensure the representativeness of elected officials through the use of homestead exemption information to verify the residency status of various candidates. H.B. 866 requires the chief appraiser, upon receipt of a report of the name and residence address of a candidate under Section 141.032 (Review of Application; Notice to Candidate), Election Code, to inspect the appraisal records to determine whether the candidate has claimed a residence homestead exemption under Section 11.13 (Residence Homestead), Tax Code. In addition, this bill requires the chief appraiser to send a written notice, no later than the 20th day after the date the chief appraiser receives a report under this section, to the authority with whom the candidate filed an application under the Election Code, if it is determined that the residence address on the application is not the actual residential address of the candidate. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Tax Code, by adding Section 11.4315, as follows: Sec. 11.4315. EXAMINATION OF RESIDENCE ADDRESS OF CANDIDATE FOR PUBLIC OFFICE. Requires the chief appraiser, upon receipt of a report of the name and residence address of a candidate under Section 141.032(g), Election Code, to inspect the appraisal records to determine whether the candidate has claimed a residence homestead exemption under Section 11.13 (Residence Homestead) of this code. Requires the chief appraiser to send a written notice, no later than the 20th day after the date the chief appraiser receives a report under this section, to the authority with whom the candidate filed an application under the Election Code, if it is determined that the residence address on the application is not the actual residential address of the candidate. Provides that the chief appraiser shall indicate the inability to determine the actual residence address in the notice by that same date. SECTION 2. Amends Section 141.032, Election Code, by adding Subsection (g), as follows: Requires the authority with whom the application is filed to send a report of the name of each candidate, and each candidate's address or location of the candidate's residence stated on the application as required by Section 141.031(4)(I) (General Requirements for Application) to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district of the county in which the residence is located no later than the 10th day after the date the application is filed. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.