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.