By: West, R. S.B. No. 80
73R3798 MRB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a committee to advise the Texas Department of Commerce
1-3 about aerospace matters and to the abolishment of the Texas Space
1-4 Commission.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 481, Government Code, is amended by
1-7 adding Subchapter W to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER W. AEROSPACE
1-9 Sec. 481.311. ADVISORY COMMITTEE; TERMS. (a) The Advisory
1-10 Committee on the Promotion of Aerospace Industries is composed of
1-11 nine members appointed by the policy board. To be eligible for
1-12 appointment, a person must have demonstrated experience in
1-13 aerospace research, research and development in science or
1-14 engineering, economic development, marketing, or banking.
1-15 (b) Members of the advisory committee are appointed for
1-16 staggered terms of two years with four members' terms expiring on
1-17 February 1 of each even-numbered year and five members' terms
1-18 expiring on February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
1-19 Sec. 481.312. OFFICERS; MEETINGS; REIMBURSEMENT. (a) The
1-20 advisory committee shall elect one of its members as the presiding
1-21 officer of the committee. The presiding officer serves in that
1-22 capacity until the advisory committee elects a successor.
1-23 (b) The advisory committee shall meet at least once in each
1-24 quarter of the calendar year at the call of the presiding officer.
2-1 The advisory committee shall meet at other times as provided by the
2-2 rules of the committee.
2-3 (c) A member of the advisory committee may not receive
2-4 compensation for service on the committee. A member is entitled to
2-5 receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
2-6 performing functions as a member, subject to any limitation on
2-7 reimbursement provided by the General Appropriations Act.
2-8 Sec. 481.313. STAFF. The department shall provide the
2-9 advisory committee with staff necessary for the committee to
2-10 perform its duties.
2-11 Sec. 481.314. DUTIES. The advisory committee shall:
2-12 (1) gather information and advise the department about
2-13 ways to encourage economic development in the state by promoting
2-14 the development of industries related to the commercialization of
2-15 aerospace;
2-16 (2) analyze research conducted in the state related to
2-17 aerospace, inform the department about the committee's analysis,
2-18 and advise the department about ways to promote additional research
2-19 of that kind; and
2-20 (3) promote the sale of special aerospace license
2-21 plates under Section 5l, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
2-22 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-5l, Vernon's
2-23 Texas Civil Statutes), so that the state receives revenue from the
2-24 sale of the plates that, when added to the gifts or grants received
2-25 under Section 481.315, produces sufficient funds to cover the cost
2-26 of administering the commission's duties.
2-27 Sec. 481.315. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The advisory committee may
3-1 solicit and the department may accept gifts and grants to be used
3-2 to finance the duties of the committee.
3-3 SECTION 2. Subsections (a), (b), and (f), Section 5l,
3-4 Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called
3-5 Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-5l, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
3-6 are amended to read as follows:
3-7 (a) The department shall design and provide for the issuance
3-8 of special <Texas Space Commission> plates relating to the
3-9 aerospace industry. The department shall make the plates available
3-10 for passenger cars and light commercial motor vehicles having a
3-11 manufacturer's rated carrying capacity of one ton or less.
3-12 (b) The license plates shall bear a word or phrase relating
3-13 to the aerospace industry <the name "Texas Space Commission"> and
3-14 be of a color, quality, and design approved by the Advisory
3-15 Committee on the Promotion of Aerospace Industries <Texas Space
3-16 Commission>.
3-17 (f) The department shall deposit $25 of each fee collected
3-18 under this section in the state treasury to the credit of <an
3-19 account in> the general revenue fund <to be known as the Texas
3-20 Space Commission account. Money in the account may be used only
3-21 for support of programs administered or supported by the Texas
3-22 Space Commission. Fees deposited under this subsection are
3-23 supplementary and are not income for purposes of reducing general
3-24 revenue appropriations to the Texas Space Commission in the General
3-25 Appropriations Act>.
3-26 SECTION 3. Chapter 482, Government Code, is repealed.
3-27 SECTION 4. (a) The Texas Space Commission is abolished.
4-1 The records and other property in the custody of the commission are
4-2 transferred to the Texas Department of Commerce. The unobligated
4-3 and unexpended appropriations to the commission lapse.
4-4 (b) To promote continuity in the promotion of the aerospace
4-5 industry in the state:
4-6 (1) the policy board of the Texas Department of
4-7 Commerce, in making the initial appointments to the Advisory
4-8 Committee on the Promotion of Aerospace Industries, may appoint to
4-9 the committee any of the persons who served on the Texas Space
4-10 Commission immediately before the commission's abolition; and
4-11 (2) the Texas Department of Commerce may employ any of
4-12 the persons who served as staff members of the Texas Space
4-13 Commission immediately before the commission's abolition.
4-14 (c) In making the initial appointments to the Advisory
4-15 Committee on the Promotion of Aerospace Industries, the policy
4-16 board of the Texas Department of Commerce shall designate four
4-17 members for terms expiring February 1, 1994, and five members for
4-18 terms expiring February 1, 1995.
4-19 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-20 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.