1-1 By: Barrientos S.B. No. 973
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 5, 1997; March 10, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Administration;
1-4 March 26, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; March 26, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Ratliff
1-7 Amend S.B. No. 973 as follows:
1-8 (1) On page 3, line 5, between the word "justice," and "oil"
1-9 add "military affairs, law enforcement,"
1-10 (2) On page 3 add the following at the beginning of line 24:
1-11 (s) The committee may accept a gift, grant, or bequest of
1-12 money, securities, services, or property to carry out any purpose
1-13 of the committee, including funds raised or services provided by a
1-14 volunteer or volunteer group to promote the work of the committee.
1-15 The committee may participate in the establishment and operation of
1-16 an affiliated nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise
1-17 funds for or provide services or other benefits to the committee,
1-18 and the committee may contract with such an organization for the
1-19 performance of such activities.
1-20 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-21 AN ACT
1-22 relating to the State Cemetery and the creation of the State
1-23 Cemetery Committee.
1-24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-25 SECTION 1. Section 2165.256, Government Code, is amended to
1-26 conform to Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
1-27 1995, and further amended to read as follows:
1-28 Sec. 2165.256. STATE CEMETERY AND OTHER BURIAL GROUNDS.
1-29 (a) The State Cemetery Committee [commission] shall oversee all
1-30 operations of the State Cemetery[:]
1-31 [(1) control, manage, and beautify the grounds of the
1-32 State Cemetery;]
1-33 [(2) preserve the grounds of the cemetery and related
1-34 property; and]
1-35 [(3) protect the property from depreciation and
1-36 injury].
1-37 (b) In addition to the property described as Lot No. 5,
1-38 Division B, City of Austin, Travis County, Texas, the following
1-39 property is dedicated for cemetery purposes as part of the State
1-40 Cemetery: BEING APPROXIMATELY 50.00 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF AND A
1-41 PORTION OF THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED TRACT OF LAND. 75.688 RECORD
1-42 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF THE GEORGE W. SPEAR SURVEY IN THE CITY OF
1-43 AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, DESCRIBED BY DEED TO THE STATE OF
1-44 TEXAS AS RECORDED IN VOLUME 76, PAGE 225, OF THE DEED RECORDS OF
1-45 TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, SAID 75.688 ACRE TRACT OF LAND BEING MORE
1-46 PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
1-47 (1) bounded on the west by Bull Creek Road;
1-48 (2) bounded on the north by the following subdivisions
1-49 in the City of Austin, Texas:
1-50 (A) Shoal Village Section 2, as recorded in Plat
1-51 Book 5, Page 150, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
1-52 (B) Shoal Village Section 3, as recorded in Plat
1-53 Book 6, Page 71, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
1-54 (C) Shoal Village Section 5, as recorded in Plat
1-55 Book 6, Page 72, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
1-56 (D) Shoal Village Section 6, as recorded in Plat
1-57 Book 7, Page 7, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
1-58 (E) Shoal Village Section 7, as recorded in Plat
1-59 Book 14, Page 80, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas; and
1-60 (F) Oak Haven Section 3, as recorded in Plat
1-61 Book 11, Page 40, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas;
1-62 (3) bounded on the east by the centerline of Shoal
1-63 Creek; and
1-64 (4) bounded along the south by Ridgelea, a subdivision
2-1 of record in the City of Austin, Texas, as recorded in Plat Book 4,
2-2 Page 258, of the Plat Records of Travis County, Texas.
2-3 (c) The committee [commission] shall procure and erect at
2-4 the head of each grave that does not have a permanent monument a
2-5 marble obelisk on which shall be engraved the name of the dead
2-6 buried in the grave.
2-7 (d) [(c)] Persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery
2-8 are:
2-9 (1) a former member of the legislature or a member who
2-10 dies in office;
2-11 (2) a former elective state official or an elective
2-12 state official who dies in office;
2-13 (3) a former state official or a state official who
2-14 dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed
2-15 by the senate and who served at least 12 years in the office to
2-16 which appointed;
2-17 (4) a person specified by a governor's proclamation,
2-18 subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection
2-19 (e); [and]
2-20 (5) a person specified by a concurrent resolution
2-21 adopted by the legislature, subject to review and approval by the
2-22 committee under Subsection (e); and
2-23 (6) a person specified by order of the committee under
2-24 Subsection (e).
2-25 (e) The committee shall review proclamations under
2-26 Subsection (d)(4) and resolutions under Subsection (d)(5). A
2-27 person specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for
2-28 burial in the State Cemetery only if the committee, following its
2-29 review, finds that the person specified made a significant
2-30 contribution to Texas history and only if, based on that finding,
2-31 the committee approves the person's burial in the cemetery. The
2-32 committee may by order authorize a burial under Subsection (d)(6)
2-33 only during a period in which the legislature is not convened in
2-34 regular or special session and only if the committee finds that the
2-35 person made a significant contribution to Texas history.
2-36 (f) [(d)] Grave spaces are allotted for:
2-37 (1) a person eligible for burial under Subsection (d)
2-38 [(c)];
2-39 (2) the person's spouse; and
2-40 (3) the person's unmarried child, if the child, on
2-41 September 1, 1979, or at the time of the child's death, is a
2-42 resident in a state eleemosynary institution.
2-43 (g) [(e)] A child eligible for burial under Subsection
2-44 (f)(3)[(d)(3)] must be buried alongside the child's parent or
2-45 parents.
2-46 (h) [(f)] A grave plot may not be longer than eight feet nor
2-47 wider than three [five] feet times the number of persons of one
2-48 family authorized to be buried alongside one another.
2-49 (i) The committee shall adopt rules regulating the monuments
2-50 erected in the State Cemetery [(g) A monument or statue may not be
2-51 erected that is taller than a monument or statue that existed in
2-52 the State Cemetery on September 1, 1979].
2-53 (j) [(h)] A tree, shrub, or flower may not be planted in the
2-54 State Cemetery without the committee's [commission's] written
2-55 permission.
2-56 (k) [(i)] A person may be buried on state property only in
2-57 the State Cemetery or in a cemetery maintained by a state
2-58 eleemosynary institution. Other state property, including the
2-59 State Capitol grounds, may not be used as a burial site.
2-60 (l) [(j)] The committee [commission] shall allot and locate
2-61 the necessary number of grave plots authorized on application made
2-62 by:
2-63 (1) the person primarily eligible for burial under
2-64 Subsection (d)[(c)];
2-65 (2) the person's spouse; or
2-66 (3) the executor or administrator of the person's
2-67 estate.
2-68 (m) The committee shall consider for burial in the State
2-69 Cemetery persons who have made significant contributions to Texas
3-1 history and culture in the following fields: air and space,
3-2 agriculture, art and design, business and labor, city building,
3-3 education, industry, justice, oil and gas, performing arts,
3-4 philanthropy, ranching, religion, science and medicine, sports, and
3-5 writing.
3-6 (n) The committee shall consider for reinterment in the
3-7 State Cemetery persons from the following eras: Spanish exploration
3-8 and colonization, Mexican, Texas revolution, republic and
3-9 statehood, Civil War and Reconstruction, frontier, Gilded Age,
3-10 progressive, Great Depression and World War II, postwar, and
3-11 modern.
3-12 (o) The committee shall designate different areas of the
3-13 cemetery for burial of persons from the fields described in
3-14 Subsection (m).
3-15 (p) The committee shall develop plans for obtaining land
3-16 adjacent to the State Cemetery for expansion of the cemetery.
3-17 (q) The committee shall actively pursue plot reservations
3-18 from persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery.
3-19 (r) The committee shall encourage members of the legislature
3-20 to advise constituents who are eligible for burial in the State
3-21 Cemetery.
3-22 SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 2165, Government Code, is
3-23 amended by adding Section 2165.2561 to read as follows:
3-24 Sec. 2165.2561. STATE CEMETERY COMMITTEE. (a) The State
3-25 Cemetery Committee is composed of:
3-26 (1) three voting members appointed as follows:
3-27 (A) one member of the general public appointed
3-28 by the governor;
3-29 (B) one member of the general public appointed
3-30 by the governor from a list submitted by the lieutenant governor;
3-31 and
3-32 (C) one member of the general public appointed
3-33 by the governor from a list submitted by the speaker of the house
3-34 of representatives; and
3-35 (2) three nonvoting advisory members appointed as
3-36 follows:
3-37 (A) one employee of the Texas Historical
3-38 Commission appointed by the executive director of the Texas
3-39 Historical Commission;
3-40 (B) one employee of the General Services
3-41 Commission appointed by the executive director of the General
3-42 Services Commission; and
3-43 (C) one employee of the Parks and Wildlife
3-44 Department appointed by the executive director of the Parks and
3-45 Wildlife Department.
3-46 (b) The governor shall designate the presiding officer of
3-47 the committee from among its members, and the presiding officer
3-48 shall serve in that capacity for two years.
3-49 (c) The members of the committee appointed by the governor
3-50 are appointed for staggered terms of six years with one member's
3-51 term expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year. The advisory
3-52 members of the committee serve at the will of the appointing
3-53 authority.
3-54 (d) Appointments to the committee shall be made without
3-55 regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
3-56 national origin of the appointees.
3-57 (e) A vacancy on the committee is filled by the appointing
3-58 authority in the same manner as the original appointment.
3-59 (f) An employee member vacates the member's position on the
3-60 committee if the member ceases to be an employee of the appointing
3-61 agency.
3-62 (g) A person is not eligible for appointment to the
3-63 committee by the governor if the person or the person's spouse:
3-64 (1) is employed by or participates in the management
3-65 of a business entity or other organization receiving funds from the
3-66 committee;
3-67 (2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more
3-68 than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other
3-69 organization receiving funds from the committee; or
4-1 (3) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
4-2 goods, services, or funds from the committee, other than
4-3 compensation or reimbursement authorized by law for committee
4-4 membership, attendance, or expenses.
4-5 (h) A person may not serve as a member of the committee if
4-6 the person is required to be registered as a lobbyist under Chapter
4-7 305 because of the person's activities for compensation on behalf
4-8 of a profession related to the operation of the State Cemetery.
4-9 (i) A public member of the committee is not entitled to
4-10 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement, from committee
4-11 funds, for the travel expenses incurred by the member while
4-12 conducting the business of the committee, as provided in the
4-13 General Appropriations Act. The entitlement of an employee member
4-14 to compensation or reimbursement for travel expenses is governed by
4-15 the law applying to the person's service in that underlying
4-16 position, and any payments to the person shall be made from the
4-17 appropriate funds of the employing agency.
4-18 (j) The State Cemetery Committee is subject to Chapter 325
4-19 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by
4-20 that chapter, the committee is abolished and this section expires
4-21 September 1, 2009.
4-22 (k) At the direction of the committee, the General Services
4-23 Commission shall spend money appropriated to or budgeted by the
4-24 agency for State Cemetery purposes.
4-25 (l) Funds appropriated to the General Services Commission
4-26 may be transferred by interagency contract for the performance of,
4-27 at the direction of the committee, an act related to the State
4-28 Cemetery.
4-29 (m) The committee may adopt rules as necessary for the
4-30 administration of the State Cemetery.
4-31 SECTION 3. (a) In addition to the substantive changes made
4-32 by this Act, this Act conforms Section 2165.256, Government Code,
4-33 to Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995.
4-34 (b) Section 1, Chapter 264, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
4-35 1995, is repealed.
4-36 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
4-37 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
4-38 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
4-39 codes.
4-40 SECTION 4. (a) The initial gubernatorial appointments to
4-41 the State Cemetery Committee shall be made so that one member is
4-42 appointed to a term expiring February 1, 1999, one member to a term
4-43 expiring February 1, 2001, and one member to a term expiring
4-44 February 1, 2003.
4-45 (b) Until a majority of the persons appointed by the
4-46 governor under this section assume their positions, the operation
4-47 of the State Cemetery continues to be governed by the law as it
4-48 existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
4-49 prior law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-50 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-51 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-52 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
4-56 * * * * *