HBA-ALS  C.S.S.B. 639 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 639
By: Bernsen
Transportation
4/21/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The purpose of this bill is to raise funds for the tourism activities of
the Texas Department of Economic Development (TDED) and to create a
marketing piece to advertise the state's tourism logo.  C.S.S.B. 1686
authorizes the TDED to issue specialized "Texas: It's Like a Whole Other
Country" license plates.  This bill also provides for the repeal of this
program if it does not generate over $100,000 by September 1, 2003. 

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 Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code, by
adding Section 502.2733, as follows: 

Sec. 502.2733.  TEXAS. IT'S LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY LICENSE PLATES. (a)
Requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to issue specially
designed "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" license plates for
passenger cars and light trucks.  

(b)  Provides that the license plates must include the trademarked Texas
patch and the words "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" and be of a
color, quality, and design approved by the Texas Department of Economic
Development.  

(c)  Requires TxDOT to issue license plates under this section to a person
who applies to the county assessor-collector of the county in which the
person resides on a form provided by TxDOT and pays an annual fee of $30,
in addition to the applicable fees prescribed by Sections 502.161
(Passenger Car, Municipal Bus, Private Bus) and 502.251 (Personalized
Prestige License Plates). 

(d)  Requires that $25 from each fee collected under this section be
deposited to the credit of the tourism account in the general revenue fund
to finance the Texas Department of Economic Development's tourism
activities and $5 be deposited to the credit of the state highway fund to
defray the cost of administering this section.  

(e)  Requires an owner of a vehicle registered under this section who
disposes of the vehicle during the registration to return the special
license plates to the department.  

SECTION 2.  Requires the comptroller of public accounts, before January 1,
2004, to determine the total amount collected under Subsection (d), before
September 1, 2003, and to submit the determination to the secretary of
state for publication in the Texas Register.  Provides that if the amount
of the comptroller's determination is less than $100,000, Section 502.2733,
Transportation Code, as added by this Act, expires on January 1, 2004.  

SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1999. 

SECTION 4.Emergency clause. 

 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1 (proposed Section
502.2733, Transportation Code) to require $25 from each fee collected for
the issuance of the specially designed license plates under this section be
deposited into the tourism account in the general revenue fund to finance
the Texas Department of Economic Development's tourism activities, rather
than transmitted by the comptroller to the Economic Development Corporation
to be used for the performance of the corporation's functions.  

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 2 to make a nonsubstantive
change.