BILL ANALYSIS


                                                         H.B. 840
                                                By: Denny (Brown)
                                                    State Affairs
                                                          4-24-95
                                Senate Committee Report (Amended)
BACKGROUND

Section 144, Article 6701d, V.T.C.S., regulates the amount that
municipalities with a population under 5,000 may retain from
traffic fines.  Municipalities may retain revenue from traffic
fines equal to 30 percent of total city revenue from the prior
year.  Currently, no enforcement mechanism for noncompliance
exists.

PURPOSE

As proposed, H.B. 840 provides a method for enforcing the limit of
the amount of funds that certain municipalities may retain from
amounts collected for traffic violations.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 144, Article 6701d, V.T.C.S., by adding
Subsections (f) and (g), as follows:

     (f)  Requires a municipality retaining amounts of 20 percent
     or more under Subsection (b) to provide to the state
     comptroller a copy of its financial statement and a report
     that includes the total amount collected for that fiscal year
     within a specified period.
     
     (g)  Requires the comptoller to enforce the limitation on the
     amount a municipality may retain under Subsection (b).
     
SECTION 2. Amends Section 144, Article 6701d, V.T.C.S., by adding
Subsection (h), to require a city to pay for the costs incurred by
the state comptroller to conduct the audit if the comptroller
conducts an audit pursuant to Subsection (g) and it is determined
that the city is retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts
under Subsection (b) and has not complied with Subsection (f).

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.
           Effective date: 90 days after adjournment.