SLC C.S.H.B. 1873 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS LAND & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT C.S.H.B. 1873 By: Williams 5-1-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The Houston metropolitan area has experienced tremendous growth over the past half-century, while the City of Houston itself has tripled in the past forty years, primarily due to the large amount of unincorporated area surrounding the city and municipalities' unilateral authority to annex. The issue of regional government and regional cooperation will be pivotal to the future of the Houston metropolitan area. PURPOSE CSHB 1873 creates an interim committee designed to study regional government in metropolitan areas and make specific recommendations on the issue. The committee's membership is composed of legislators and citizens from the area chosen by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker. The bill also creates a temporary moratorium on annexation for a period of two years. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does expressly grant additional rulemaking authority to the interim committee created in this Act by stating in SECTION 2. subsection (k) of this Act that the committee shall adopt rules to administer this section of the Act. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Local Government Code, by adding Sec. 43.0201 as follows: Sec. 43.0201. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON ANNEXATION BY CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. Provides a two year moratorium on annexation in municipalities with a population of 1.6 million or more. Municipalities may only annex an area if petitioned by the area to be annexed. SECTION 2. This section stipulates the membership, focus, and duties of an interim committee to study local government consolidation and municipal annexation authority. This section also provides definitions. SECTION 3. The Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker shall appoint members to the committee before November 1, 1997. SECTION 4. Applies Act to any annexation action, regardless of whether the annexation proceeding was started before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 5. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE CSHB 1873 deletes the provision contained in the original legislation that allowed for an area to disannex from a municipality. CSHB 1873 provides a two year moratorium on annexation in municipalities with a population of 1.6 million or more. The original legislation provided for a 10 year moratorium on annexation.