HBA-NLM H.B. 1755 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1755 By: Lewis, Ron Land & Resource Management 4/8/1999 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, each special law creating a conservation and reclamation district is required to comply with the general laws relating to consent by political subdivisions to the creation of conservation and reclamation districts and to the inclusion of land within the district. In 1997, a Travis County district court ruled that a conservation and reclamation district created by the legislature in 1995, pursuant to Section 59 (Conservation and Development of Natural Resources; Conservation and Reclamation Districts), Article XVI, Texas Constitution, was unconstitutional because the municipality did not give consent for the creation of the district in its extraterritorial jurisdiction. In this decision the Travis County district court interpreted the term "general law" to include Section 42.042, Local Government Code, which requires the consent of a municipality to the creation, even by the legislature, of a political subdivision. There is concern that the decision may result in the invalidation of all conservation and reclamation districts created by the legislature without a municipality's written consent by ordinance or resolution. It has been estimated that over sixty such districts have been created. The purpose of this bill is to clarify and confirm that the general law of the state does not require the consent of any municipality for the legislative adoption of an act creating a district under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution. H.B. 1755 provides that any governmental act or proceeding related to the adoption of an act of the legislature creating a special district under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, since the adoption of Subsection (e) of that section, is validated as of the date on which it occurred. Subsection (e) relates to the creation of a conservation and reclamation district. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.042(j), Local Government Code, to provide that the consent requirements of this section do not apply to the creation of a political subdivision by an act of the legislature. SECTION 2. Provides that any governmental act or proceeding related to the adoption of an act of the legislature creating a special district under Section 59 (Conservation and Development of Natural Resources; Conservation and Reclamation Districts), Article XVI, Texas Constitution, since the adoption of Subsection (e) of that section is validated as of the date on which it occurred. Subsection (e) relates to the creation of a conservation and reclamation and the procedures thereof. SECTION 3. Provides the purpose of this Act. Provides that this Act does not nullify or amend any other act of the legislature or any order of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission relating to any district created under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, since the adoption of Subsection (e) of that section. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Amendment #1 Amends Section 42.042(j), Local Government Code, by including the creation of a political subdivision by the division of any political subdivision originally created by an act of the legislature, among the acts which are exempt from the consent requirements of this section. Makes a nonsubstantive change.