Sec. 403.055.  PAYMENTS TO DEBTORS OR DELINQUENTS PROHIBITED.  (a)  Except as provided by this section, the comptroller, as a ministerial duty, may not issue a warrant or initiate an electronic funds transfer to a person who has been reported properly under Subsection (f).
(b)  Except as provided by this section, the comptroller may not issue a warrant or initiate an electronic funds transfer to the assignee of a person who has been reported properly under Subsection (f) if the assignment became effective after the person became indebted to the state or incurred a tax delinquency.
(c)  If this section prohibits the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to a person, the comptroller may issue a warrant or initiate an electronic funds transfer only as provided by this section to:
(1)  the person's estate;
(2)  the distributees of the person's estate;  or
(3)  the person's surviving spouse.
(d)  This section does not prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to pay:
(1)  the compensation of a state officer or employee;  or
(2)  the remuneration of an individual if the remuneration is being paid by a private person through a state agency.
(e)  This section does not prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to a person reported properly under Subsection (f) or to the person's assignee if the state agency responsible for collecting the person's debt or tax delinquency subsequently and properly reports to the comptroller that:
(1)  the person is complying with an installment payment agreement or similar agreement to pay or eliminate the debt or delinquency, unless the agency subsequently and properly reports to the comptroller that the person no longer is complying with the agreement;
(2)  the person's debt or delinquency has been paid or otherwise eliminated;  or
(3)  the report of indebtedness or delinquency was prohibited by Subsection (g) or was otherwise erroneous.
(e-1)  This section does not prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to a person reported properly under Subsection (f) or to the person's assignee if, in accordance with Section 403.0551, the comptroller first retains one or more warrants or electronic funds transfers to the person for a total amount that at least equals the amount necessary to fully deduct the amount of the person's indebtedness to the state or tax delinquency from the amount the state owes the person.
(f)  Except as provided by Subsection (g), a state agency shall report to the comptroller each person who is indebted to the state or has a tax delinquency.  The report must contain the information and be submitted in the manner and with the frequency required by the comptroller.
(g)  A state agency may not report a person under Subsection (f) unless the agency first provides the person with an opportunity to exercise any due process or other constitutional or statutory protection that must be accommodated before the agency or the state may begin a collection action or procedure.  The comptroller may not investigate or determine whether a state agency has complied with this prohibition.
(g-1)  A state agency shall provide notice to a person who is the subject of a report made by the agency under Subsection (f), other than a person reported as indebted to the state as provided by Section 231.007, Family Code, at the time the agency makes the report.  The notice must:
(1)  be given in a manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the person;
(2)  state:
(A)  the name of the indebted or delinquent person;
(B)  the amount of the person's indebtedness or delinquency;
(C)  the agency's contact information; and
(D)  any options available to eliminate the indebtedness or delinquency; and
(3)  include a statement that the person's indebtedness or delinquency:
(A)  has been reported to the comptroller; and
(B)  may prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to the person for any amount owed to the person by the state.
(h)  This section does not apply:
(1)  to the extent Section 57.48, Education Code, applies;  or
(2)  to the extent this section conflicts with Section 231.007, Family Code.
(i)  This section does not prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer if:
(1)  the warrant or transfer would result in a payment being made in whole or in part with money paid to the state by the United States;  and
(2)  the state agency that administers the money certifies to the comptroller that federal law:
(A)  requires the payment to be made;  or
(B)  conditions the state's receipt of the money on the payment being made.
(j)  The comptroller may adopt rules and establish procedures to administer this section.
(k)  This section does not prohibit the comptroller from issuing a warrant or initiating an electronic funds transfer to a person, the person's assignee, the person's estate, the distributees of the person's estate, or the person's surviving spouse if each state agency that properly reported the person under Subsection (f) consents to issuance of the warrant or initiation of the transfer.
(l)  In this section:
(1)  "Compensation" means base salary or wages, longevity pay, hazardous duty pay, benefit replacement pay, or an emolument provided in lieu of base salary or wages.
(2)  "State agency" means a board, commission, council, committee, department, office, agency, or other governmental entity in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government.  The term includes an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, other than a public junior or community college.
(3)  "State officer or employee" means an officer or employee of a state agency.
(4)  "Tax delinquency" means a delinquency in payment of:
(A)  a tax to the state;  or
(B)  a tax that the comptroller administers or collects.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.  Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 7, eff. Sept. 1, 1991;  Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 4, Sec. 12.01, eff. Jan. 1, 1992;  Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 449, Sec. 28, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1035, Sec. 23, 24, eff. June 19, 1997;  Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 583, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999;  Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1467, Sec. 1.15, eff. Jan. 1, 2000;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1158, Sec. 13, 94(2), eff. June 15, 2001.
Amended by: 
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 138 (H.B. 2691), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.