HBA-EDN C.S.H.B. 2810 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2810 By: Wolens State Affairs 4/16/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Many statutes use a device known as a population bracket to limit the application of the statutes to only one or a small group of political subdivisions. A population bracket uses population figures to single out a targeted political subdivision. A lower and an upper population figure is often used to create a range (that is, a bracket) that covers the affected political subdivision. An example of this type of population bracket is: "A county with a population of 25,650 to 25,900." A population bracket may also be used in a broader sense to cover the use of only a lower or an upper population figure to single out a political subdivision. An example of this type of population bracket is: "A municipality with a population of more than 1 million." A reference in a statute to the population of a political subdivision means the population according to the most recent federal census. Therefore, as population data changes with the release of each federal census, the political subdivision for which a population bracket was designed may no longer be in the bracket. It becomes necessary, following each federal census, to examine each population bracket and, if necessary, to take action to update the bracket. The purpose of this bill is to take into account the new census data contained in the 2000 federal census and to update population brackets as necessary so that the statutes using those brackets continue to apply to the political subdivisions for which the brackets were intended. 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. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2810 updates population brackets by amending each statute that contains a population bracket that is in need of change due to the new population data contained in the 2000 federal census. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The committee substitute updates population brackets rather than makes a single statement to update population brackets. The original established legislative intent that a statute that applies to a political subdivision with a certain population is to continue to apply to that same political subdivision regardless of whether the political subdivision has the required population under the newly released federal census.