Work Session Recap - House Bill 572
Just own the night like the Fourth of July
At last week’s work session, Representatives Victoria Neave Criado (District 107) and Retta Bowers (District 113) graciously were present to provide an update on the past Legislative session in Austin. We have extended invitations to the other two state representatives who represent Garland – Angie Chen Button (District 112) and Ana-Maria Ramos (District 102) — and I hope that they will accept our offer to appear.
During the council question time, I asked representative Bowers about House Bill HB 572 she authored. This bill relates to the confiscation of packaged, unopened fireworks by a municipality that regulates fireworks. You can read the text of the bill as written here: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB00572I.pdf
(Fireworks during the Star Spangled Spectacular at Firewheel Mall this summer)
Currently Section 342.003 of State Local Government Code reads:
Sec. 342.003. FIRE REGULATIONS. (a) The governing body of the municipality may:
(8) prohibit or otherwise regulate the use of fireworks and firearms;
Subsequently subsection (c) states:
(c) Subsection (a)(8) does not authorize a municipality to confiscate packaged, unopened fireworks.
Bowers’ bill would add the following bolded portion to subsection (c):
(c) Subsection (a)(8) does not authorize a municipality to confiscate fireworks in the possession of a person if the person possesses only packaged, unopened fireworks.
To me, the language is confusing. With Bowers’ addition, does it still mean we cannot confiscate packaged, unopened fireworks? As I stated during the Work Session, fireworks are our number one complaint during the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day, along with celebratory gunfire.
I reached out to Representative Bowers’ after the Work Session for clarification, and to my amazement (despite misspelling my last name), I received a prompt response within 24 hours from her Chief of Staff.
Hi Councilmember Hendrick,
Thank you very much for reaching out. Currently law does not permit law enforcement from confiscating any sealed containers of fireworks. So the current pattern that can occur is that law enforcement can respond to a situation where someone is illegally shooting off fireworks, but can only confiscate what have already been opened, even if they observe boxes and boxes of sealed fireworks. Unsurprisingly, this can create repeated needs for a law enforcement response, having to continually return to the same scene, only being able to confiscate a fraction of the fireworks those people have in their possession.
What HB 572 does is allow law enforcement to now confiscate those sealed packages, as long as the person doesn’t only have sealed packages. So, for example, if someone has just bought fireworks, and drives through a place they are banned, then they will still be allowed to keep their fireworks. But if they are shooting them off somewhere they are not supposed to be doing so, then the entire stash can be confiscated.
Despite the fact that the bill did not change the legality of fireworks anywhere, only allowed for greater flexibility in the response in the municipalities that already regulate fireworks, the bill was staunchly opposed by the fireworks lobby, and they did not let it advance past the committee hearing step.
I’ve attached a copy of HB 572 for your review – the key here is the use of the word “only” in lines 9 and 14. The current code, without the underlined edits, simply reads as “(c) Subsection (a)(8) does not authorize a municipality to confiscate packaged, unopened fireworks.” directly.
Let me know if this has helped clear everything up, or if you’d like to discuss this further! I am happy to help however I can.
Thanks again for having us the other night, we greatly appreciated it.
All the best,
André Treiber
Chief of Staff
State Representative Rhetta Andrews Bowers - HD 113
(512) 463-0464
E2.906
Maybe it’s the use of the negative “does not authorize” in conjunction with the clause that follows that is throwing me off and makes me think that cities would not be able to confiscate fireworks. However, I am happy to let the lawyers hash out the final meaning. Regardless of how I interpret the language, I am happy to see that someone is trying to do something about the firework issue in Texas cities.
I certainly have to give her staff credit for a thoughtful and prompt response. As I have documented in other posts, this is the kind of response constituents should expect from their elected representatives.
The day after our work session, Representative Bowers made an announcement that she would run for the vacancy in US Congressional District 32 left by Colin Allred. Allred announced he will vacate his seat to run for the US Senate seat against Ted Cruz in 2024. I wish Representative Bowers the best in her next race.
You knew this was coming…
Katy Perry - Firework