1-1 By: Conley (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 3157
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 10, 1995;
1-3 April 11, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 3, 1995, reported adversely, with
1-5 favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10,
1-6 Nays 0; May 3, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3157 By: Wentworth
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the board of certain metropolitan rapid transit
1-11 authorities.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 4(e)(2)(A), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
1-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
1-15 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-16 (A) In addition to the methods of removal of
1-17 board members provided by Subdivisions (1) and (4) of this
1-18 subsection, board members of an authority in which the <rate of the
1-19 sales and use tax is one percent and whose> principal city has a
1-20 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
1-21 recent federal census, are subject to removal by the recall
1-22 procedure provided by this subdivision.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 4(e)(4), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
1-24 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
1-25 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-26 (4) In addition to the methods of removal of board
1-27 members provided by Subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, a
1-28 board member of an authority in which the principal city has a
1-29 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
1-30 recent federal census, may be removed by the agency that appointed
1-31 the member. In the case of the principal city, removal under this
1-32 subsection is by recommendation of the mayor and confirmation of
1-33 that city's governing body. Grounds for removal under this
1-34 subdivision are the grounds described by Subdivisions (1) and (5)
1-35 of this subsection. Before removing a board member under this
1-36 subdivision, the appointing agency or, in the case of a member
1-37 appointed by the mayor of the principal city and confirmed by that
1-38 city's governing body, the mayor of the principal city shall
1-39 furnish to the member a statement of the charges as grounds for
1-40 removal. Before the 11th day after the date the member receives
1-41 the statement, the member may request a hearing before the
1-42 appointing or confirming agency. At a hearing, the member is
1-43 entitled to be represented in person or through counsel. After a
1-44 hearing, if the appointing or confirming agency determines that the
1-45 charges are true, it shall remove the member from the board.
1-46 SECTION 3. Section 4(e)(5)(A), Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
1-47 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
1-48 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-49 (A) In addition to the grounds described by
1-50 Subdivision (1) of this subsection, it is a ground for removal from
1-51 the board of an authority in which the principal city has a
1-52 population of more than 750,000 <1,200,000>, according to the most
1-53 recent federal census, if a member:
1-54 (i) does not have at the time of
1-55 appointment the qualifications required by Sections 4(d) and 6B(e)
1-56 of this Act;
1-57 (ii) does not maintain during service on
1-58 the board the qualifications required by Sections 4(d) and 6B(e) of
1-59 this Act;
1-60 (iii) violates a prohibition established
1-61 by Subsection (d) of this section or Chapter 171, Local Government
1-62 Code;
1-63 (iv) cannot discharge the member's duties
1-64 for a substantial part of the term for which the member is
1-65 appointed because of illness or disability; or
1-66 (v) is absent from more than half of the
1-67 regularly scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to
1-68 attend during a calendar year unless the absence is excused by
2-1 majority vote of the board.
2-2 SECTION 4. (a) The terms of all members of the board of a
2-3 rapid transit authority created under Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
2-4 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Vernon's Texas
2-5 Civil Statutes), before 1980, the largest municipality of which has
2-6 a population of less than 1.2 million, expire on January 1, 1996.
2-7 (b) Not later than January 1, 1996, all entities that are
2-8 eligible to make appointments to a board described in Subsection
2-9 (a) of this section shall make appointments to fill the vacancies
2-10 caused by this section.
2-11 (c) All persons appointed under Subsection (b) of this
2-12 section shall draw lots to determine the length of the member's
2-13 term. One-half of the members, rounded up to the next whole
2-14 number, shall serve for a term of two years. The remaining members
2-15 serve a term of one year. All terms begin on January 1, 1996.
2-16 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-17 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
2-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-22 * * * * *