bill making birth certificates free for homeless Texans

The text as introduced · 993 words

89R2367 LRM-D

By: Collier
H.B. No. 1712

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

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 individuals 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 an individual'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 an individual requesting a birth

record to provide a letter certifying the individual 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 2A.001, 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 an individual'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 an individual applying for a

driver's license or personal identification certificate to provide

a letter certifying the individual 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 2A.001, 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) A rule 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, [ or ] 521.1811, or 521.184, deposit to the credit of the

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) , [ and ] 521.1811 , and 521.184 ; or

(2) grant an exemption under Section 521.1015,

521.1016, [ or ] 521.1811 , or 521.184, if money is not available in

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, 2025.