Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By Giddings H.B. No. 107
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to specialized license plates to support an elementary
1-3 student reading program.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 502.289 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 502.289. READ TO SUCCEED. (a) The department shall
1-8 issue specially designed "Read to Succeed" license plates for
1-9 passenger cars and light trucks.
1-10 (b) The license plates must include the words "Read to
1-11 Succeed" and be of a color, quality, and design approved by the
1-12 commissioner of education.
1-13 (c) The department shall issue license plates under this
1-14 section to a person who:
1-15 (1) applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-16 county in which the person resides on new title applications or
1-17 yearly registration renewal forms provided by the department; and
1-18 (2) pays an annual fee in the amount set under
1-19 Subsection (d), in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-20 502.161, and, if personalized prestige license plates are issued,
1-21 in addition to the fee prescribed by Section 502.251.
1-22 (d) The department shall set the annual fee for license
1-23 plates under this section at an amount equal to $25 plus an amount,
1-24 not to exceed $5, necessary to administer this section.
2-1 (e) The department shall deposit $25 of each fee collected
2-2 under this section to the credit of the "Read to Succeed" account
2-3 established under Section 29.354, Education Code.
2-4 (f) The remainder of each fee collected under this section,
2-5 after deposit as provided by Subsection (e), may be used only to
2-6 defray the cost of administering this section.
2-7 SECTION 2. Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding
2-8 Subchapter J to read as follows:
2-9 SUBCHAPTER J. READ TO SUCCEED
2-10 Sec. 29.351. PROGRAM REQUIRED. The commissioner shall
2-11 develop a program, to be called the "Read to Succeed" program,
2-12 under which grants are made to public school campuses to provide
2-13 extra reading education to students in kindergarten through third
2-14 grade who are reading below grade level.
2-15 Sec. 29.352. ELIGIBILITY. To receive a grant under this
2-16 subchapter a school campus must have at least 35 percent of its
2-17 students in kindergarten through third grade reading below grade
2-18 level. The extra reading education must be provided to those
2-19 students after regular classroom hours. These funds may not be
2-20 used by the school campus to supplant any existing programs.
2-21 Sec. 29.353. ADMINISTRATION BY COMMISSIONER. The
2-22 commissioner shall:
2-23 (1) determine additional guidelines for eligibility
2-24 for a grant under this subchapter;
2-25 (2) prescribe the procedure for application for and
2-26 making of grants;
2-27 (3) perform other activities the commissioner
2-28 considers necessary to carry out this subchapter; and
2-29 (4) appoint an advisory board of eleven members to
2-30 serve without compensation or expense reimbursement to assist the
3-1 commissioner in developing program goals, determining which
3-2 eligible applicants receive grants, the amount of each grant, and
3-3 promoting the "Read to Succeed" license plates.
3-4 Sec. 29.354. READ TO SUCCEED ACCOUNT. (a) The comptroller
3-5 shall maintain a "Read to Succeed" account in the general revenue
3-6 fund. The account is composed of:
3-7 (1) money required to be deposited to the credit of
3-8 the account under Section 502.289, Transportation Code; and
3-9 (2) donations made to the account.
3-10 (b) Money in the "Read to Succeed" account shall be used
3-11 only to make grants under this subchapter.
3-12 SECTION 3. A grant may not be made under Subchapter J,
3-13 Chapter 29, Education Code, as added by this Act, before August 1,
3-14 1998.
3-15 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-16 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-22 passage, and it is so enacted.