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 * * * * *