By: Carona H.B. No. 118
73R1549 DWS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to special license plates for members of the Marine Corps
1-3 League or its auxiliary.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 5k(a), (b), and (d), Chapter 88, General
1-6 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
1-7 (Article 6675a-5k, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by
1-8 Chapters 654 and 659, Acts of the 72nd Legislature, Regular
1-9 Session, 1991, are amended to read as follows:
1-10 (a) The department shall design and provide for the issuance
1-11 of special license plates depicting the state capitol for passenger
1-12 cars and light commercial motor vehicles having a manufacturer's
1-13 rated carrying capacity of one ton or less and shall design and
1-14 provide for the issuance of special license plates for those
1-15 vehicles that are owned by persons who are:
1-16 (1) active or retired members of a branch of the armed
1-17 forces of the United States;
1-18 (2) the surviving spouses of individuals killed in
1-19 action while serving in the armed forces of the United States, as
1-20 long as the surviving spouse remains unmarried;
1-21 (3) survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor on
1-22 December 7, 1941, or their surviving spouses who have not
1-23 remarried;
1-24 (4) recipients of the Purple Heart medal or
2-1 recipients' surviving spouses who have not remarried;
2-2 (5) members of the United States Air Force Auxiliary,
2-3 Civil Air Patrol, members of the United States Coast Guard
2-4 Auxiliary, or members of the Marine Corps League or its auxiliary;
2-5 (6) persons who served in a branch of the armed forces
2-6 of the United States after August 4, 1964, and before May 8, 1975;
2-7 or
2-8 (7) persons who served in a branch of the armed forces
2-9 of the United States, were deployed to the Middle East, and there
2-10 participated in Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm.
2-11 (b) License plates issued to a member of a branch of the
2-12 armed forces, or to the individual's surviving spouse as provided
2-13 by Subsection (a)(2) of this section, shall bear the designation of
2-14 the appropriate branch of the armed forces. License plates issued
2-15 to Pearl Harbor survivors or their surviving spouses who have not
2-16 remarried shall bear the words "Pearl Harbor Survivor" and shall be
2-17 numbered consecutively. License plates issued to recipients, or
2-18 surviving spouses of recipients, of the Purple Heart medal shall
2-19 bear the Purple Heart emblem, shall bear the words "Purple Heart"
2-20 at the bottom of each plate, and if numbered plates are issued,
2-21 shall bear the letters "PH" as the prefix or suffix to the assigned
2-22 number. License plates issued to members of the civil air patrol
2-23 shall bear the words "Texas Wing Civil Air Patrol." License plates
2-24 issued to members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary shall bear the words
2-25 "Coast Guard Auxiliary." License plates issued to members of the
2-26 Marine Corps League or its auxiliary shall bear the words "Marine
2-27 Corps League" and the emblem of the Marine Corps League. License
3-1 plates issued to persons who served in a branch of the armed forces
3-2 of the United States after August 4, 1964, and before May 8, 1975,
3-3 shall bear the words "Vietnam Veteran." License plates issued to
3-4 persons who served in a branch of the armed forces of the United
3-5 States, were deployed to the Middle East, and there participated in
3-6 Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm shall bear the words
3-7 "Desert Storm."
3-8 (d) A person who applies for:
3-9 (1) armed forces <license plates>, Coast Guard
3-10 Auxiliary, <or> Civil Air Patrol, or Marine Corps League license
3-11 plates must submit proof that the person is eligible to receive the
3-12 plates;
3-13 (2) Pearl Harbor license plates must submit proof that
3-14 the person:
3-15 (A) served in the armed forces of the United
3-16 States;
3-17 (B) was stationed in the Hawaiian Islands on
3-18 December 7, 1941; and
3-19 (C) survived the attack on Pearl Harbor on
3-20 December 7, 1941; or
3-21 (D) is the surviving spouse of an individual who
3-22 meets the requirements of Paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this
3-23 subdivision;
3-24 (3) Purple Heart license plates must submit proof that
3-25 the person:
3-26 (A) has been awarded the Purple Heart medal and
3-27 is:
4-1 (i) an honorably discharged veteran of the
4-2 armed forces of the United States; or
4-3 (ii) a member of the armed forces of the
4-4 United States on active duty; or
4-5 (B)(i) is the surviving spouse of a recipient of
4-6 the Purple Heart medal who was an honorably discharged veteran of
4-7 the armed forces of the United States or a member of the armed
4-8 forces of the United States on active duty on the date of death;
4-9 and
4-10 (ii) has not remarried;
4-11 (4) Vietnam veteran license plates must submit proof
4-12 that the person served in a branch of the armed forces of the
4-13 United States after August 4, 1964, and before May 8, 1975, and:
4-14 (A) is an honorably discharged veteran of the
4-15 armed forces of the United States; or
4-16 (B) is a member of the armed forces of the
4-17 United States on active duty; and
4-18 (5) Desert Storm license plates must submit proof that
4-19 the person served in a branch of the armed forces of the United
4-20 States, was deployed to the Middle East, and there participated in
4-21 Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm and:
4-22 (A) is an honorably discharged veteran of the
4-23 armed forces or reserve component of the armed forces of the United
4-24 States; or
4-25 (B) is a member of the armed forces of the
4-26 United States, a member of the Texas Army National Guard, a member
4-27 of the Texas Air National Guard, or a member of a reserve component
5-1 of the United States armed forces.
5-2 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-8 passage, and it is so enacted.