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Over the last several months, the Board has been working on a major revision of its rules (22 Texas Administrative Code Chapters 71 – 82), which we’ll likely finish up in the middle of 2020. The Board has received the following questions as a part of this process: What is a rule? Generally, a rule is a prescriptive statement from the Board to persons under the Board’s jurisdiction telling them either how, when, and where to do or not do something or how, when, and, where the Board will do something. Board policies dealing with internal procedures aren’t rules. Who are the rules for? Obviously, licensees are the main target audience, but that audience also includes the general public, the legislature, insurance companies, investigators, attorneys, and the judiciary. Therefore, the rules need to be written in plain language that makes them understandable to everyone. This is the reason the Board avoids technical jargon as much as possible. Is there a particular format the rules need to be in? There’s no official template, but good drafting practices dictate that they be short and concise. The convention the Board has used (to the extent possible) in the revisions has been “A licensee shall . . .”, “A licensee may not . . .”, or “the Board may . . . “ to make clear what behavior is required by the rule. “Shall” means a behavior is mandatory, “may not” means a behavior is prohibited, and “may” means the behavior is discretionary. Why do the rules sometimes say “licensee”, then say “individual” or “person” at other times? “Licensee” means only those individuals who are licensed by the agency. “Individual” means a human being who may or may not be licensed. “Person” means individual plus any other legal entity such as a corporation. Individuals and persons not licensed by the agency can fall under the Board’s jurisdiction in some instances. What's changed or will change in the revisions? The majority of the rule changes have been or will be simple rewrites to make them easier to read and to find within the Administrative Code. While the section numbers of some rules have changed, the substance has not. Where do I find out about proposed rule changes? The Board will always post notice of proposed rulemaking (which by state law can only be done at Board meetings) on the Board's website ahead of time. Notice of all Board meetings can also be found on the Texas Secretary of State’s website. Where can I find the text of proposed rules? The text of all proposed rules are always published in the Texas Register, which is put out by the Texas Secretary of State. The text of any new rule up for consideration at a formal Board meeting will also be posted on the Board's website. How do I make a comment about a proposed rule? Public comment on any proposed rule is always welcome at the public meeting where the Board discusses the rule or in writing during the comment period after the Board votes to propose a rule. Information on how to make a written comment can be found in the issue of the Texas Register where the rule is officially proposed. How do I suggest a rule to the Board? Anyone can ask the Board to consider making a rule, either formally through a rulemaking petition or informally by simply contacting the General Counsel with the suggested rule. Source: http://www.tbce.state.tx.us/NewsLetter/2019/NLJuly2019.pdf