1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to special license plates benefitting Big Bend National
1-3 Park.
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 502.295 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 502.295. BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK LICENSE PLATES. (a)
1-8 Except as provided by Subsection (b), the department shall issue
1-9 specially designed license plates for passenger cars and light
1-10 trucks to support the activities of a nonprofit organization
1-11 designated by the Parks and Wildlife Department that has as its
1-12 principal purpose the improvement or preservation of Big Bend
1-13 National Park.
1-14 (b) The department is not required to issue license plates
1-15 under this section unless the designated organization can establish
1-16 a commitment for the purchase of at least 1,000 sets of the license
1-17 plates.
1-18 (c) The license plates must bear one or more graphic images
1-19 of significant features of Big Bend National Park designed by the
1-20 Parks and Wildlife Department in consultation with the designated
1-21 organization.
1-22 (d) The department shall issue license plates under this
1-23 section to a person who:
1-24 (1) applies to the county assessor-collector of the
2-1 county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
2-2 department; and
2-3 (2) pays a fee of $50 for an original issuance of
2-4 license plates under this section or $40 for a renewal of issuance
2-5 of license plates under this section, in addition to the fee
2-6 prescribed by Section 502.161 or 502.162, and, if personalized
2-7 prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the fee
2-8 prescribed by Section 502.251.
2-9 (e) The fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or mutilated
2-10 plate issued under this section is $35, in addition to the fee
2-11 prescribed by Section 502.184(a).
2-12 (f) Of each fee collected under this section, $5 may be used
2-13 to defray the cost of administering this section by the department
2-14 and the Parks and Wildlife Department. The department shall
2-15 deposit the remainder of each fee collected under this section to
2-16 the credit of the Big Bend National Park account in the state
2-17 treasury. Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and
2-18 Wildlife Department to support the activities of a designated
2-19 nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is the improvement or
2-20 preservation of Big Bend National Park. The Parks and Wildlife
2-21 Department shall establish reporting and other mechanisms necessary
2-22 to ensure that the money is expended for purposes for which it is
2-23 dedicated.
2-24 (g) If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
2-25 disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
2-26 shall return the special license plates to the department.
2-27 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-1 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2519 was passed by the House on April
25, 1997, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2519 on May 20, 1997, by a non-record
vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2519 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 16, 1997, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor