IMF H.B. 1428 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS
STATE AFFAIRS
H.B. 1428
By: Stiles
4-10-97
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND
On January 10, 1901, Spindletop Oil Field struck oil and changed the
course of history in Southeast Texas and around the state. As the first
major oil field discovered in Texas, Spindletop broke John D.
Rockefeller's Standard Oil forty year monopoly of the petroleum industry.
Spindletop initiated the search for oil throughout Texas and the
Southwest, and spin-off's of Spindletop became Texaco and Gulf Oil.
January 10, 2001, will be the one-hundred year anniversary of the
Spindletop discovery and festivity ideas are already in the works. In
order to assure a well-organized celebration of not only Spindletop's
anniversary but also a century of Texas economic, social, and political
history based on oil, a state-wide oversight commission to coordinate
events is necessary.
Similar commissions have been established for other major Texas historical
events, including separate Commissions for the Bicentennials of Sam
Houston's and Stephen F. Austin's Birth. This bill would create the
Spindletop Centennial Celebration Commission (Spindletop 2001 Commission)
composed of members from around the state to coordinate Spindletop's
historic anniversary.
PURPOSE
As proposed, H.B. 1428 would create a state-wide oversight commission to
facilitate an organized celebration of the centennial of the discovery of
the Spindletop Oil Field.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does expressly grant
additional rulemaking authority to the Spindletop Centennial Celebration
Commission in SECTION 6 (b)(1) of this Act.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. (a) Establishes the Spindletop Centennial Celebration
Commission composed of:
(1) 13 public members appointed by the governor, including:
(A) 2 members from Lamar University;
(B) 1 member from Texas A&M University;
(C) 2 members from the Texas Energy Museum;
(D) 5 members that are residents of Jefferson County;
(E) 3 members from around the state; and
(2) 2 ex-officio members of the senate appointed by the lieutenant
governor; 2 ex officio members of the house of representatives appointed
by the speaker of the house; the executive director of the Texas
Railroad Commission to serve as an ex officio member; the executive
director of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission to
serve as an ex-officio member; and the executive director of the Texas
Historical Commission to serve as an ex-officio member.
(b) If an ex-officio officer ceases to hold the position qualifying them
for the commission, the person will no longer have a position on the
commission. The same procedure is required to fill the vacant position by
the appropriate appointing officer. (c) If an ex-officio member will be
absent, they can designate a representative who is an officer or employee
of the same state agency or house of the legislature as the member. (d)
Every member is a voting member. A state officer or employee's duties for
the commission are additional duties of the office or employment. (e)
Requires the public members to be appointed without regard to the race,
color, sex, religion, age or national origin of the appointee. (f)
Prohibits civil liability against a member of the commission, acting in
good faith, for executing the duties of a commission member. (g) Provides
that the commission is subject to open meeting laws and the Administrative
Procedure and Texas Register Act.
SECTION 2. Provides that public members of the commission hold office
until the commission ends.
SECTION 3. Requires the commission to elect a chair from one of its
members at its first meeting. The chair is a voting member for all
matters.
SECTION 4. Prohibits a public member of the commission from receiving any
compensation for serving on the commission. Allows a public member to be
reimbursed for travel expenses, subject to any limitations provided by the
General Appropriations Act. Allows ex-officio members to be reimbursed
according to the laws governing that person's underlying position.
SECTION 5. Requires the commission to meet when the chair calls a meeting
according to commission rules. Requires that regularly scheduled meetings
be at the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont and provides that special
meetings can be held at other locations in Texas.
SECTION 6. (a) Requires the commission to coordinate state and local
activities involving the centennial celebration of Spindletop Oil Field.
(b) Allows the commission to adopt rules for its procedures, encourage the
organization of other activities relating to the celebration, gather and
disseminate information relating to the celebration, and accept gifts for
the commission's use.
SECTION 7. (a) Requires the commission to complete its work, satisfy its
financial obligations, and file with the secretary of state a final report
verified by a certified public accountant between December 31, 2001 and
March 31, 2002. Requires the report to show:
(1) the total amount of contributions received by the commission during
its existence;
(2) the total amount of expenditures made by the commission from non-
appropriated funds; and
(3) the total amount of non-appropriated funds remaining in the
commission's possession.
(b) Requires the commission to deliver to the state treasure all
unexpended, non-appropriated funds it possesses on the same day the
commission files its final report with the secretary of state. Requires
the treasure to deposit the funds in the state treasury to the credit of
the general revenue fund.
SECTION 8. Provides that the terms of the initial public members expire
February 1, 1999.
SECTION 9. Provides that this Act expires and the commission is abolished
March 31, 2002.
SECTION 10. Emergency clause.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The committee substitute is a Legislative Council draft of the original
bill and places H.B. 1428 in Legislative Council format. This resulted in
the addition of standard language concerning the creation of the
commission in SECTION 1.
In SECTION 2 the terms of the public members was changed from until the
expiration of the commission in the original, to two years in the
substitute.
SECTION 4 adds language regarding travel expenses for ex-officio members.
Adds new SECTION 8 to specify that the initial terms of public members
expire February 1, 1999.
Changes the expiration date of the act and the abolition of the commission
from March 31, 2001 in the original to March 31 2002 in SECTION 9 (prior
SECTION 8).