H.B. No. 3157
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the board of certain metropolitan rapid transit
1-3 authorities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 4(e)(2)(A), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
1-7 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (A) In addition to the methods of removal of
1-9 board members provided by Subdivisions (1) and (4) of this
1-10 subsection, board members of an authority in which the <rate of the
1-11 sales and use tax is one percent and whose> principal city has a
1-12 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
1-13 recent federal census, are subject to removal by the recall
1-14 procedure provided by this subdivision.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 4(e)(4), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
1-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
1-17 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-18 (4) In addition to the methods of removal of board
1-19 members provided by Subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, a
1-20 board member of an authority in which the principal city has a
1-21 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
1-22 recent federal census, may be removed by the agency that appointed
1-23 the member. In the case of the principal city, removal under this
2-1 subsection is by recommendation of the mayor and confirmation of
2-2 that city's governing body. Grounds for removal under this
2-3 subdivision are the grounds described by Subdivisions (1) and (5)
2-4 of this subsection. Before removing a board member under this
2-5 subdivision, the appointing agency or, in the case of a member
2-6 appointed by the mayor of the principal city and confirmed by that
2-7 city's governing body, the mayor of the principal city shall
2-8 furnish to the member a statement of the charges as grounds for
2-9 removal. Before the 11th day after the date the member receives
2-10 the statement, the member may request a hearing before the
2-11 appointing or confirming agency. At a hearing, the member is
2-12 entitled to be represented in person or through counsel. After a
2-13 hearing, if the appointing or confirming agency determines that the
2-14 charges are true, it shall remove the member from the board.
2-15 SECTION 3. Section 4(e)(5)(A), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
2-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
2-17 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-18 (A) In addition to the grounds described by
2-19 Subdivision (1) of this subsection, it is a ground for removal from
2-20 the board of an authority in which the principal city has a
2-21 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
2-22 recent federal census, if a member:
2-23 (i) does not have at the time of
2-24 appointment the qualifications required by Sections 4(d) and 6B(e)
2-25 of this Act;
3-1 (ii) does not maintain during service on
3-2 the board the qualifications required by Sections 4(d) and 6B(e) of
3-3 this Act;
3-4 (iii) violates a prohibition established
3-5 by Subsection (d) of this section or Chapter 171, Local Government
3-6 Code;
3-7 (iv) cannot discharge the member's duties
3-8 for a substantial part of the term for which the member is
3-9 appointed because of illness or disability; or
3-10 (v) is absent from more than half of the
3-11 regularly scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to
3-12 attend during a calendar year unless the absence is excused by
3-13 majority vote of the board.
3-14 SECTION 4. (a) The terms of all members of the board of a
3-15 rapid transit authority created under Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
3-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
3-17 Civil Statutes), before 1980, the largest municipality of which has
3-18 a population of less than 1.2 million, expire on January 1, 1996.
3-19 (b) Not later than January 1, 1996, all entities that are
3-20 eligible to make appointments to a board described in Subsection
3-21 (a) of this section shall make appointments to fill the vacancies
3-22 caused by this section.
3-23 (c) All persons appointed under Subsection (b) of this
3-24 section shall draw lots to determine the length of the member's
3-25 term. One-half of the members, rounded up to the next whole
4-1 number, shall serve for a term of two years. The remaining members
4-2 serve a term of one year. All terms begin on January 1, 1996.
4-3 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-9 passage, and it is so enacted.