1-1     By:  Gallego (Senate Sponsor - Madla)                 H.B. No. 2519

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 1997;

 1-3     April 29, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Finance; May 9, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:

 1-5     Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 9, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to special license plates benefitting Big Bend National

 1-9     Park.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,

1-12     is amended by adding Section 502.292 to read as follows:

1-13           Sec. 502.292.  BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK LICENSE PLATES.  (a)

1-14     Except as provided by Subsection (b), the department shall issue

1-15     specially designed license plates for passenger cars and light

1-16     trucks to support the activities of a nonprofit organization

1-17     designated by the Parks and Wildlife Department that has as its

1-18     principal purpose the improvement or preservation of Big Bend

1-19     National Park.

1-20           (b)  The department is not required to issue license plates

1-21     under this section unless the designated organization can establish

1-22     a commitment for the purchase of at least 1,000 sets of the license

1-23     plates.

1-24           (c)  The license plates must bear one or more graphic images

1-25     of significant features of Big Bend National Park designed by the

1-26     Parks and Wildlife Department in consultation with the designated

1-27     organization.

1-28           (d)  The department shall issue license plates under this

1-29     section to a person who:

1-30                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the

1-31     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the

1-32     department; and

1-33                 (2)  pays a fee of $50 for an original issuance of

1-34     license plates under this section or $40 for a renewal of issuance

1-35     of license plates under this section, in addition to the fee

1-36     prescribed by Section 502.161, and, if personalized prestige

1-37     license plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by

1-38     Section 502.251.

1-39           (e)  The fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or mutilated

1-40     plate issued under this section is $35, in addition to the fee

1-41     prescribed by Section 502.184(a).

1-42           (f)  Of each fee collected under this section, $5 may be used

1-43     to defray the cost of administering this section by the department

1-44     and the Parks and Wildlife Department.  The department shall

1-45     deposit the remainder of each fee collected under this section to

1-46     the credit of the Big Bend National Park account in the state

1-47     treasury.  Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and

1-48     Wildlife Department to support the activities of a designated

1-49     nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is the improvement or

1-50     preservation of Big Bend National Park.  The Parks and Wildlife

1-51     Department shall establish reporting and other mechanisms necessary

1-52     to ensure that the money is expended for purposes for which it is

1-53     dedicated.

1-54           (g)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section

1-55     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner

1-56     shall return the special license plates to the department.

1-57           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-58           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-59     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-60     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-61     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-62     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

1-63                                  * * * * *