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Committee report: bills moved, carried or carried over from Civil Courts subcommittee
Summary
The subcommittee reported several bills to the next stage and carried others for further drafting; notable outcomes include unanimous approval to remove DMAS guardianship notices, reporting of courtroom-device and digital-replica substitutes, and mixed votes on consumer-protection and prosecutorial-recovery measures.
The House Civil Courts of Justice Subcommittee acted on a multi-item docket and moved several bills forward while carrying or declining others.
Key procedural outcomes:
- HB 1119 (remove DMAS guardianship notification): reported 8–0 after sponsor testimony that DMAS receives roughly 50 guardian filings weekly it does not use.
- HB 872 (portable electronic-device policies substitute): reported 8–1; substitute requires chief judges to set policies, post them, and include practicability language for storage options.
- HB 342 (paper access to standardized complaint forms): reported 6–2 to require paper forms and signage in clerk's offices.
- Small-claims amendment (amendment to allow two filings per year up to $25,000): sponsor agreed to carry the measure to 2027 to address tracking, removal and IT questions.
- HB 981 (civil recovery for prosecutorial misconduct): failed to report on a 4–4 tie.
- HB 1100 (treasurer lien / wage protection amendments): reported 6–3 after discussion about evidentiary standards and safeguards for rare "jeopardy" situations.
- HB 556 (divorce/vital-records substitute concerning Social Security/DMV control numbers): reported 6–1 to allow omission where not known and synchronized changes to vital-records reporting statutes.
- HB 775 (reasonable/active efforts in foster care): reported 7–1 and referred to Appropriations amid concerns about Title IV‑E alignment and implementation burdens.
- Substitute on unauthorized digital replicas (voice/image/likeness): reported 8–0 after sponsor and industry representatives negotiated a provider liability exclusion and a tiered postmortem protection window.
Several bills were carried "by for the day" or carried to next year for further work; committee staff will coordinate redrafts and stakeholder meetings where members requested clarifications.
