HBA-NMO S.B. 1734 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1734 By: Ratliff Criminal Jurisprudence 5/6/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law provides that the maximum amount of money available from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund to a victim of a crime or the dependents of a victim is $50,000. However, this limit applies only to a crime committed on or after September 1, 1997. S.B. 1734 allows the attorney general to extend benefits up to $50,000 to dependents of a crime victim if they filed an application for compensation and the application was approved prior to September 1, 1997. 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. Provides that Article 56.42(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by and notwithstanding Section 2, Chapter 1434, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, applies to an application for compensation for criminally injurious conduct (injury) occurring before the effective date of that Act (September 1, 1997) if the application was filed by or on behalf of a dependant of a victim who died as a result of injury, was filed in a timely manner, and was approved by the attorney general before the effective date of that Act. Article 56.42(a) provides that awards payable to a victim and all other claimants sustaining pecuniary loss because of injury or death of that victim may not exceed $50,000 in the aggregate. SECTION 2.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.