By Cuellar of Hidalgo                                  H.B. No. 374
       74R1189 JD-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the issuance of a sticker showing the license plate
    1-3  letters and numbers of a motor vehicle.
    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 13-3/4
    1-8  to read as follows:
    1-9        Sec. 13-3/4.  (a)  The Department shall issue a sticker on
   1-10  initial registration of each motor vehicle in this State and on any
   1-11  subsequent registration in which the vehicle's license plate
   1-12  letters or numbers are changed.  The sticker shall display the
   1-13  license plate letters and numbers assigned to the vehicle.
   1-14        (b)  The owner of the motor vehicle shall affix the sticker
   1-15  issued under Subsection (a) of this section to a window of the
   1-16  vehicle in the manner prescribed by the Department.
   1-17        (c)  Any person issued a sticker under this section commits
   1-18  an offense if the person operates a motor vehicle on a public
   1-19  highway without displaying the sticker as required by this section.
   1-20        SECTION 2.  Section 13a, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of
   1-21  the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et
   1-22  seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
   1-23  follows:
   1-24        Sec. 13a.  (a)  The owner of a registered motor vehicle may
    2-1  obtain from the Department through the County Tax Collector
    2-2  replacement number plates for such vehicle by filing with said
    2-3  collector a statement showing that said number plate or plates have
    2-4  been lost, stolen or mutilated, and by paying a fee of five dollars
    2-5  for each set of plates issued.  The County Tax Assessor-Collector
    2-6  shall retain as commission one-half (1/2) of this fee collected for
    2-7  replacement number plates and the other one-half (1/2) of such fee
    2-8  shall be reported to and remitted to the <State> Department <of
    2-9  Highways and Public Transportation> on Monday of each week as other
   2-10  registration fees are now required to be reported and remitted.
   2-11        (b)  The owner of a registered motor vehicle for which a
   2-12  sticker has been issued under Section 13-3/4 of this Act may obtain
   2-13  from the Department through the County Tax Collector replacement
   2-14  number plates and sticker for the vehicle by filing with the
   2-15  collector a statement showing that the number plate or plates or
   2-16  sticker has been lost, stolen, or mutilated, and by paying a fee of
   2-17  $7 for each set of plates and sticker issued.  The County Tax
   2-18  Assessor-Collector shall retain as commission $2.50 of this fee
   2-19  collected for replacement number plates and sticker, and the other
   2-20  $4.50 of the fee shall be reported to and remitted to the
   2-21  Department on Monday of each week as other registration fees are
   2-22  now required to be reported and remitted.
   2-23        (c)  In case one or more plates or a sticker is <are> left in
   2-24  possession of such owner same shall be returned to the Tax
   2-25  Collector when making a <this> statement under this section.  Said
   2-26  statement shall state that such plate, <or> plates, or sticker has
   2-27  <have> been lost, stolen or mutilated and will not be used on any
    3-1  vehicle owned or operated by the person making this statement.  No
    3-2  Tax Collector shall issue replacement plates or stickers without
    3-3  requiring compliance with the provisions of this Section.
    3-4        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.  For
    3-5  license plates manufactured on or after September 1, 1996, the
    3-6  department shall prepare stickers required by this Act for issuance
    3-7  with the plates.
    3-8        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-9  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-10  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-11  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-12  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.