By Thompson H.B. No. 1127
75R1877 MLS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to providing that the Railroad Commission of Texas be
1-3 governed by a single elected railroad commissioner.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Article 6444, Revised Statutes, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Art. 6444. TERMS DEFINED; REFERENCES IN LAW. (a) The term
1-8 "Commission" as used in this title means the Railroad Commission of
1-9 Texas, and the term "commissioner" ["Commissioners"] means the
1-10 railroad commissioner [members of the Railroad Commission of
1-11 Texas].
1-12 (b) In this title, a reference to the commissioners or to
1-13 the members of the Commission is considered to be a reference to
1-14 the railroad commissioner. In any state statute, a reference to
1-15 the railroad commissioners or to the members of the Railroad
1-16 Commission of Texas is considered to be a reference to the railroad
1-17 commissioner.
1-18 SECTION 2. Article 6447, Revised Statutes, is amended to
1-19 read as follows:
1-20 Art. 6447. THE COMMISSIONER [COMMISSION]. (a)
1-21 Election.--The Railroad Commission of Texas is governed by the
1-22 railroad commissioner, who shall be [composed of three members, one
1-23 of whom shall be] elected [biennially] at a [each] general election
1-24 for a term of four [six] years.
2-1 (b) Qualifications.--The commissioner [members] shall be a
2-2 resident citizen [citizens] of this State, and a qualified voter
2-3 [voters] under the Constitution and laws, and not less than
2-4 twenty-five years of age. The commissioner may not [No member
2-5 shall] be directly or indirectly interested in any railroad, or in
2-6 any stock, bond, mortgage, security, or earnings of any railroad,
2-7 and should the commissioner [a member] voluntarily become so
2-8 interested the commissioner's [his] office shall become vacant, or
2-9 should the commissioner [he] become so interested otherwise than
2-10 voluntarily, the commissioner [he] shall within a reasonable time
2-11 divest [himself of] such interest, failing to do this, the
2-12 commissioner's [his] office shall become vacant.
2-13 (c) Shall hold no other office, etc.--The [No] commissioner
2-14 may not [shall] hold any other office of any character, while
2-15 [such] commissioner, nor engage in any occupation or business
2-16 inconsistent with the [his] duties as [such] commissioner.
2-17 (d) Oath, etc.--Before entering upon the duties of [his]
2-18 office, the [each] commissioner shall take and subscribe to the
2-19 official oath and shall in addition thereto, swear that the
2-20 commissioner [he] is not directly or indirectly interested in any
2-21 railroad, nor in the bonds, stock, mortgages, securities,
2-22 contracts, or earnings of any railroad, and [that he] will to the
2-23 best of the commissioner's [his] ability faithfully and justly
2-24 execute and enforce the provisions of this title, and all laws of
2-25 this State concerning railroads, which oath shall be filed with the
2-26 Secretary of State.
2-27 (e) Organization.--The commissioner [commissioners shall
3-1 elect one of their number chairman. They may make all rules
3-2 necessary for their government and proceedings. They] shall be
3-3 known [collectively] as the "railroad commissioner ["Railroad
3-4 Commission of Texas]," and shall have a seal, a star of five points
3-5 with the words "Railroad Commission of Texas" engraved thereon.
3-6 The commissioner [They] shall be furnished necessary furniture,
3-7 stationery, supplies and all necessary expenses, to be paid for on
3-8 the order of the Governor.
3-9 (f) Expenses.--The commissioner [Commissioners] shall
3-10 receive from the State [their] necessary traveling expenses while
3-11 traveling on the business of the Commission, which shall include
3-12 the cost only of transportation while traveling on business for the
3-13 Commission, upon an itemized statement thereof, sworn to by the
3-14 commissioner [party who incurred the expense, and approved by the
3-15 Commission]. Employees of the Commission are entitled to
3-16 reimbursement for expenses incurred in traveling on the business of
3-17 the Commission as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
3-18 [Sessions.--The Commission may hold its sessions at any place
3-19 in this State when deemed necessary.]
3-20 SECTION 3. Article 6451, Revised Statutes, is amended to
3-21 read as follows:
3-22 Art. 6451. MAY ADMINISTER OATHS, ETC. The commissioner
3-23 [Each Commissioner], for the purposes mentioned in this chapter,
3-24 shall have power to administer oaths, certify to all official acts,
3-25 and to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production of
3-26 papers, waybills, books, accounts, documents and testimony, and to
3-27 punish for contempt as fully as is provided by law for the district
4-1 court.
4-2 SECTION 4. Article 6463, Revised Statutes, is amended to
4-3 read as follows:
4-4 Art. 6463. TESTIMONY TAKEN. The commissioner
4-5 [Commissioners] may require the testimony taken before the
4-6 commissioner [them] to be reduced to writing when the commissioner
4-7 considers [they deem] necessary, or when requested to do so by
4-8 either party to such proceedings; and a certified copy, under the
4-9 hand and seal of said Commission, shall be admissible in evidence
4-10 upon the trial of any cause or proceeding growing out of the same
4-11 transaction against such railroad, involving the same subject
4-12 matter and between the same parties. No provisions of this and the
4-13 three preceding articles shall abridge nor affect the rights of any
4-14 person to sue for any penalty that may be due the person [him]
4-15 under the provisions of this title, or any other law of the State.
4-16 SECTION 5. Article 6464, Revised Statutes, is amended to
4-17 read as follows:
4-18 Art. 6464. MAY INSPECT BOOKS, ETC. The commissioner
4-19 [Commissioners or either of them], or such persons as the
4-20 commissioner [they] may authorize in writing under the hand and
4-21 seal of the Commission, shall have the right at any time to inspect
4-22 the books and papers of any railroad company and to examine under
4-23 oath any officer, agent or employe of such railroad in relation to
4-24 the business and affairs of the same.
4-25 SECTION 6. Section 81.001(2), Natural Resources Code, is
4-26 amended to read as follows:
4-27 (2) "Commissioner" means [any member of] the railroad
5-1 commissioner [Railroad Commission of Texas].
5-2 SECTION 7. Section 26.403(c), Water Code, is amended to read
5-3 as follows:
5-4 (c) The committee is composed of:
5-5 (1) the executive director of the commission;
5-6 (2) the executive administrator of the Texas Water
5-7 Development Board;
5-8 (3) the commissioner [executive director] of the
5-9 Railroad Commission of Texas;
5-10 (4) the commissioner of health of the Texas Department
5-11 of Health;
5-12 (5) the deputy commissioner of the Department of
5-13 Agriculture;
5-14 (6) the executive director of the State Soil and Water
5-15 Conservation Board;
5-16 (7) the Director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment
5-17 Station;
5-18 (8) the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology of
5-19 The University of Texas at Austin; and
5-20 (9) a representative selected by the Texas Alliance of
5-21 Groundwater Districts.
5-22 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect January 1, 1999, but only
5-23 if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 75th Legislature,
5-24 Regular Session, 1997, providing that the Railroad Commission of
5-25 Texas will be governed by a single elected railroad commissioner
5-26 instead of by an elected three-member commission, is approved by
5-27 the voters. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this
6-1 Act has no effect.
6-2 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.