1-1  By:  Harris                                            S.B. No. 171
    1-2        (In the Senate - Filed January 9, 1995; January 10, 1995,
    1-3  read first time and referred to Committee on Administration;
    1-4  January 10, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas
    1-5  4, Nays 0; January 10, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-7                                AN ACT
    1-8  relating to the creation, purpose, implementation, and funding of
    1-9  the County Park Beautification and Improvement Program.
   1-10        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-11        SECTION 1.  SHORT TITLE.  This Act shall be known and may be
   1-12  cited as the County Park Beautification and Improvement Program
   1-13  Act.
   1-14        SECTION 2.  PURPOSE; CREATION.  It is the intent of the
   1-15  legislature that each county dedicating land for use as county
   1-16  parks be encouraged to beautify and improve those parks through
   1-17  measures including but not limited to improvements in or additions
   1-18  to lighting, directional and educational signs, litter abatement
   1-19  strategies, and landscaping and landscape maintenance policies.  In
   1-20  furtherance of these goals, the County Park Beautification and
   1-21  Improvement Program is established.
   1-22        SECTION 3.  IMPLEMENTATION.  The commissioners court of a
   1-23  county may by majority vote elect to participate in the program.
   1-24  On such election, the commissioners court shall designate one
   1-25  person in the division of the county government responsible for the
   1-26  care and maintenance of the county parks as the coordinator for the
   1-27  program.  The coordinator may solicit advice and assistance from
   1-28  state and county agencies and private organizations in developing
   1-29  and implementing the program.
   1-30        SECTION 4.  REPORT; ADOPTION.  The coordinator shall report
   1-31  to the commissioners court the coordinator's findings and shall
   1-32  recommend an implementation strategy to the court.  The
   1-33  commissioners court may reject or adopt the implementation
   1-34  strategy.  If the court rejects the strategy, it shall specify to
   1-35  the coordinator the reasons for such rejection, and the coordinator
   1-36  shall develop a new implementation strategy to present to the court
   1-37  within six months of the rejection.  On adoption of an
   1-38  implementation strategy, the commissioners court may fund the
   1-39  program as provided in Section 5 of this Act.
   1-40        SECTION 5.  FUNDING.  The commissioners court of a county
   1-41  electing to participate in the County Park Beautification and
   1-42  Improvement Program under this Act may solicit and accept bequests,
   1-43  donations, grants, and other money, goods, and services from
   1-44  federal, state, and private sources to finance and further the
   1-45  goals of the program but may not levy any tax or receive any
   1-46  legislative appropriation to fund such participation.  The state is
   1-47  not liable for debts or other obligations incurred by a county in
   1-48  implementing or planning to implement the program under this Act.
   1-49        SECTION 6.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
   1-50  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   1-51  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   1-52  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   1-53  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   1-54  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   1-55  passage, and it is so enacted.
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