By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1116
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the issuance of specially designed license plates and
1-2 establishing the environmental education account in the state
1-3 treasury.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
1-6 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq.,
1-7 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5p to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 5p. (a) The department shall design and provide for
1-10 the issuance of special Texas nature plates for passenger cars and
1-11 light commercial motor vehicles having a manufacturer's rated
1-12 carrying capacity of one ton or less.
1-13 (b) The license plates shall bear the name "Naturally Texas"
1-14 and be of a color, quality, and design depicting a Texas nature
1-15 scene approved by the Central Education Agency's Texas
1-16 Environmental Education Advisory Committee established by Section
1-17 11.53(b), Education Code.
1-18 (c) The department shall issue license plates under this
1-19 section to a person who:
1-20 (1) applies to the county tax collector in the county
1-21 of a person's residence on a form provided by the department; and
1-22 (2) pays the fee prescribed by Subsection (e) of this
1-23 section.
2-1 (d) A person applying for license plates under this section
2-2 may:
2-3 (1) have a license plate number assigned by the
2-4 department; or
2-5 (2) apply for personalized prestige license plates
2-6 under Section 5c of this Act.
2-7 (e) The department shall set an annual fee in an amount that
2-8 is reasonable and necessary to issue special license plates under
2-9 this section in addition to the regular registration fee for the
2-10 vehicle imposed by Section 5 of this Act and, if personalized
2-11 prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the fee imposed
2-12 by Section 5c of this Act.
2-13 (f) The department shall deposit 65 percent of each fee
2-14 collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
2-15 an account in the general revenue fund to be known as the Texas
2-16 Environmental Education Advisory Committee account. Money in the
2-17 account may be used only for support of programs administered or
2-18 supported by the Central Education Agency under Section 11.53,
2-19 Education Code. Fees deposited under this subsection are
2-20 supplementary and are not income for purposes of reducing general
2-21 revenue appropriations to the Central Education Agency in the
2-22 General Appropriations Act.
2-23 (g) After the deposit provided for by Subsection (f) of this
2-24 section, the department shall deposit the remainder of each fee
2-25 collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
3-1 the State Highway Fund to be used only to defray the cost of
3-2 administering this section.
3-3 (h) If license plates issued under this section are lost,
3-4 stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the plates
3-5 were issued may obtain replacement plates from the department by
3-6 paying a replacement fee of $5. If the owner of a vehicle for
3-7 which plates are issued under this section disposes of the vehicle
3-8 during a registration year, the owner shall return the special
3-9 license plates to the department.
3-10 (i) There is no limit to the number of passenger cars and
3-11 light commercial motor vehicles for which a person may apply for
3-12 the issuance of license plates under this section.
3-13 SECTION 2. Section 11.53, Education Code, is amended by
3-14 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
3-15 (c) All funds received under Subsection (a)(5) of this
3-16 section and fees collected under Section 5p, Chapter 88, General
3-17 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
3-18 (Article 6675a-5p, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), shall be
3-19 deposited in the state treasury to the credit of a special account
3-20 to be named the Texas Environmental Education Advisory Committee
3-21 account. Money deposited to the credit of the account may be used
3-22 only for the following purposes:
3-23 (1) to develop new instructional materials on
3-24 environmental education, especially those relating to ecological
3-25 systems and the ways human beings depend on and interact with
4-1 ecological systems in Texas;
4-2 (2) to support staff development for environmental
4-3 education through inservice programs, summer seminars, and
4-4 institutes;
4-5 (3) to fund the position of environmental education
4-6 coordinator in the Central Education Agency to coordinate
4-7 environmental education in the state;
4-8 (4) to establish teacher training centers for
4-9 environmental education across the state;
4-10 (5) to provide a system for communicating current
4-11 information about environmental education curriculum materials,
4-12 validated projects, and other successful programs to teachers,
4-13 administrators, and the public;
4-14 (6) to establish procedures for coordinating
4-15 environmental education programs among state agencies; and
4-16 (7) to support the advisory committee on environmental
4-17 education established by Subsection (b) of this section.
4-18 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-19 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.