1-1     By:  Patterson                                         S.B. No. 946

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 5, 1997; March 10, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;

 1-4     April 2, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 12, Nays 0; April 2, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 946                     By:  Luna

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to a requirement that certain persons obtain a vehicle

1-11     storage facility license.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Sections 3 and 5, Vehicle Storage Facility Act

1-14     (Article 6687-9a, Revised Statutes), are amended to read as

1-15     follows:

1-16           Sec. 3.  EXCEPTION.  This article does not apply to a vehicle

1-17     parked or stored at a vehicle storage facility with the consent of

1-18     the vehicle's owner.  Except as provided by Section 5(b) of this

1-19     article, this [This] article does not apply to a vehicle storage

1-20     facility owned [operated] by a person licensed pursuant to the

1-21     Texas Motor Vehicle Commission Code.

1-22           Sec. 5.  PROHIBITION.  (a)  A person may not operate a

1-23     vehicle storage facility unless the person holds a current license

1-24     to operate a vehicle storage facility issued to the person by the

1-25     commission.

1-26           (b)  Except as provided by this subsection, a person other

1-27     than the owner of a vehicle storage facility may not operate a

1-28     vehicle storage facility owned by a motor vehicle dealer unless the

1-29     person holds a current license to operate a vehicle storage

1-30     facility issued to the person by the commission. The licensing

1-31     requirement imposed by this subsection applies only to a person who

1-32     operates a vehicle storage facility pursuant to the terms of an

1-33     enforceable contract by which the motor vehicle dealer who owns the

1-34     vehicle storage facility has conveyed to the contract operator all

1-35     authority to manage the vehicle storage facility.

1-36           (c)  For purposes of this section, "motor vehicle dealer" has

1-37     the meaning assigned to "dealer" under Section 1.03, Texas Motor

1-38     Vehicle Commission Code (Article 4413(36), Vernon's Texas Civil

1-39     Statutes).

1-40           SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this

1-41     section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-42           (b)  A person that operates a storage facility for vehicles

1-43     owned by a motor vehicle dealer is not required to obtain a vehicle

1-44     storage facility licensed under Subsection (b), Section 5, Vehicle

1-45     Storage Facility Act (Article 6687-9a, Revised Statutes), as added

1-46     by this Act, until January 1, 1998.

1-47           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-48     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-49     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-50     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-51     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

1-52     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

1-53     passage, and it is so enacted.

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