Amend CSHB 547 by striking existing SECTION 5 (page 4, line
24 through page 5, line 2) and substituting a new SECTION 5 to read
as follows:
      SECTION 5.  (a)  This Act may not be implemented until the
later of the following dates:
            (1)  the date on which the attorney general or other
attorney representing the interests of the state in the matter of
Ruiz v. Collins certifies to the governor that no federal court
retains jurisdiction to enforce the final judgment entered in that
case on December 11, 1992; or
            (2)  September 1, 1999, but only if an Act of the 76th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, does not repeal this Act.
      (b)  The chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Criminal
Justice Committee, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,
and the chairmen of the House Criminal Jurisprudence, Corrections,
and Appropriations committees, after jointly reviewing the capacity
of the facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and
the sentencing patterns relating to offenses described by Section
3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, shall report to
the 76th Legislature not later than December 1, 1998 on the effect
of those factors on the law as amended by this Act.