By: Kuempel H.B. No. 73
73R839 GCH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the abolition of the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. (a) The Texas High-Speed Rail Authority is
1-5 abolished.
1-6 (b) The franchise granted under the Texas High-Speed Rail
1-7 Act (Article 6674v.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is terminated,
1-8 and the franchise agreement between the authority and the
1-9 franchisee is void.
1-10 (c) The authority shall cease all its activities not later
1-11 than the end of the second calendar month that begins after the
1-12 effective date of this Act.
1-13 (d) Before the authority ceases its activities, it shall
1-14 transfer all property and records in its custody to the Railroad
1-15 Commission of Texas. The railroad commission shall pay outstanding
1-16 obligations of the authority, including lease and contract
1-17 obligations, from operating funds transferred by the authority.
1-18 After payment of authority obligations, the railroad commission
1-19 shall submit any excess of the authority's operating funds to the
1-20 comptroller for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of the
1-21 general revenue fund.
1-22 (e) If the authority is involved in litigation on the
1-23 effective date of this Act, the attorney general shall assume
1-24 responsibility for concluding the litigation.
2-1 (f) The Texas High-Speed Rail Act (Article 6674v.2, Vernon's
2-2 Texas Civil Statutes), including the amendments to that Act by
2-3 Article 4, Chapter 7, Acts of the 72nd Legislature, 1st Called
2-4 Session, 1991, enacted to take effect September 1, 1995, is
2-5 repealed.
2-6 SECTION 2. Section 48.03, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
2-7 amended to read as follows:
2-8 Sec. 48.03. ELIGIBILITY FOR PERMIT. The commission or
2-9 administrator may issue a passenger train beverage permit to any
2-10 corporation organized under Title 112, Revised Statutes, or under
2-11 the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, as amended (45 U.S.C.A.
2-12 Section 501 et seq.), <or to a corporation holding a franchise
2-13 issued by the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority,> operating a
2-14 commercial passenger train service in or through the state.
2-15 Application and payment of the fee shall be made directly to the
2-16 commission.
2-17 SECTION 3. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
2-18 amended by Chapters 6 and 14, Acts of the 72nd Legislature, 1st
2-19 Called Session, 1991, is amended to read as follows:
2-20 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-21 officers:
2-22 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-23 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-24 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-25 city, town, or village;
2-26 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-27 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
3-1 Safety;
3-2 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
3-3 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
3-4 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-5 Beverage Commission;
3-6 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-7 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-8 (8) officers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter
3-9 51, Education Code;
3-10 (9) officers commissioned by the <State Purchasing
3-11 and> General Services Commission;
3-12 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-13 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-14 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-15 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-16 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-17 commercial air carriers;
3-18 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-19 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-20 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-21 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-22 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-23 security officers;
3-24 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-25 by the State Treasurer;
3-26 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
3-27 improvement district under Section 51.132, Water Code;
4-1 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
4-2 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
4-3 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-4 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-5 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-6 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-7 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-8 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-9 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-10 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-11 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-12 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-13 Commission;
4-14 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-15 Pharmacy;
4-16 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-17 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 13, Chapter 141,
4-18 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x,
4-19 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or by a regional transportation
4-20 authority under Section 10, Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th
4-21 Legislature, Regular Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Vernon's Texas
4-22 Civil Statutes);
4-23 (23) <officers commissioned by the Texas High-Speed
4-24 Rail Authority;>
4-25 <(24)> investigators commissioned by the attorney
4-26 general under Section 402.009, Government Code; and
4-27 (24) <(25)> security officers and investigators
5-1 commissioned as peace officers under the State Lottery Act.
5-2 SECTION 4. Section 316.033, Government Code, is amended to
5-3 read as follows:
5-4 Sec. 316.033. FUNDS EXCLUDED. This subchapter applies to
5-5 funds established by state law, but does not apply to any portion
5-6 of a fund derived from constitutionally dedicated revenues or to
5-7 funds or fund balances that are:
5-8 (1) dedicated by the Texas Constitution;
5-9 (2) held in trust or escrow for the benefit of any
5-10 person or entity other than a state agency;
5-11 (3) pledged to the payment of bonds, notes, or other
5-12 debts;
5-13 (4) derived from gifts, donations, or endowments made
5-14 to state agencies or institutions of higher education;
5-15 (5) pledged to the capital trust fund to be used for
5-16 construction; or
5-17 (6) maintained by institutions of higher education,
5-18 including the Texas State Technical College System<; or>
5-19 <(7) maintained by the Texas High-Speed Rail
5-20 Authority>.
5-21 SECTION 5. Section 1.02(2), State Purchasing and General
5-22 Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
5-23 amended to read as follows:
5-24 (2) "State agency" means:
5-25 (A) any department, commission, board, office,
5-26 or other agency in the executive branch of state government created
5-27 by the constitution or a statute of this state<, except the Texas
6-1 High-Speed Rail Authority>;
6-2 (B) the Supreme Court of Texas, the Court of
6-3 Criminal Appeals of Texas, a court of <civil> appeals, or the Texas
6-4 <Civil> Judicial Council; or
6-5 (C) a university system or an institution of
6-6 higher education as defined in Section 61.003, Texas Education
6-7 Code, as amended, other than a public junior college.
6-8 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-14 passage, and it is so enacted.