SB1499

The act moves the center’s law from Occupations Code Chapter 2312 to Government Code Chapter 426 and renames its chief intelligence coordinator as its director. The existing agency-agreement structure, including the possibility of a licensed peace officer serving in that role, remains. Final law; Existing center; Prior leadership and agreements.

New “payment fraud” coverage includes card fraud; forgery involving a statutory “sight order,” which includes a check, electronic debit or automatic bank draft and can be payable on demand or at a definite time; sending an unauthorized payment order; initiating an electronic fund transfer without the account holder’s consent; and other fraudulent payment orders defined by commission rule. Electronic transfers exclude transactions originated by check, money order or similar paper instrument. “Unauthorized payment order” uses the authorization and legally effective-order rules in Business & Commerce Code Section 4A.202; it is not a new blanket reimbursement rule for disputed bank transfers. Final law; Authorization and verified-payment rules; Forgery provision; Sight-order definition.

The broader scope carries through the center’s coordination, information collection, prevention strategies, training, outreach and annual report. The report remains due December 1 and covers plans, funding needs, fraud statistics, outreach and expenditures. Existing limits on releasing law-enforcement-sensitive information remain: information that could harm law enforcement or jeopardize an investigation or operation is treated as sensitive. The commission must adopt implementing rules as soon as practicable after the effective date. Final law; Prior assistance and information-sharing rules; Prior report requirements.

All five published operative versions match, and no floor amendments are listed. The broader payment-fraud coverage and code transfer were already in the introduced version. Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Law enforcement, financial institutions, payment-card businesses, merchants and other listed partners can receive assistance addressing a wider set of payment fraud. Grant uses now expressly address payment-fraud deterrence equipment, training and outreach as well as skimmer removal. Grants remain subject to available appropriated money and contracts; the act does not itself award money or guarantee that victims recover losses. Donations remain permitted, except from the specified motor-fuel-metering service-company and service-technician license holders. Final law; Existing donation restriction; Existing grant funding condition; Covered license holders.

The March 10 fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal implication, assuming costs can be absorbed with existing resources, and no local-government fiscal implication. These are estimates, not proof that broader coordination requires no work or that fraud losses will fall. This explanation verifies the enacted responsibilities, not whether subsequent rules, grants or enforcement outcomes have occurred. Fiscal note; Final law.