By Gallego                                      H.B. No. 2519

      75R8282 DWS-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 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 502.292 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 502.292.  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, and, if personalized prestige

 2-7     license plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by

 2-8     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 the designated

2-19     organization in the improvement or preservation of Big Bend

2-20     National Park.  The Parks and Wildlife Department shall establish

2-21     reporting and other mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money

2-22     is expended for purposes for which it is dedicated.

2-23           (g)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section

2-24     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner

2-25     shall return the special license plates to the department.

2-26           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-27           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.