1-1     By:  Ellis, Brown                                      S.B. No. 991

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 6, 1997; March 11, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;

 1-4     April 28, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,

 1-5     Nays 0; April 28, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to permitting certain disabled persons to apply for and

 1-9     receive a state parklands passport.

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

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 13.018, Parks and Wildlife Code, is

1-12     amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to

1-13     read as follows:

1-14           (a)  The following people may apply to the department for a

1-15     state parklands passport:

1-16                 (1)  a resident of this state who is 65 years old or

1-17     over who has resided in the state for six consecutive months

1-18     preceding the date of application for a parklands passport, a

1-19     member of the United States armed forces on active duty who is 65

1-20     years old or over, or any other individual in a category that the

1-21     commission by rule designates as a resident of this state who is 65

1-22     years old or over; [and]

1-23                 (2)  a veteran of the armed services of the United

1-24     States who, as a result of military service, has a

1-25     service-connected disability, as defined by the Veterans'

1-26     Administration, consisting of the loss of the use of a lower

1-27     extremity or of a 60 percent disability rating and who is receiving

1-28     compensation from the United States because of the disability; and

1-29                 (3)  an individual who has a physical or mental

1-30     impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life

1-31     activities of the individual.

1-32           (e)  The commission by rule shall establish eligibility

1-33     requirements and privileges available to the holder of a state

1-34     parklands passport described by Subsection (a)(3).

1-35           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-36     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-37     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-38     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-39     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

1-40     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

1-41     passage, and it is so enacted.

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