By Gallegos                                     S.B. No. 1506

      75R9113 DWS-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to special license plates for the Houston Livestock Show

 1-3     and Rodeo.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,

 1-6     is amended by adding Section 502.292 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 502.292.  HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO LICENSE

 1-8     PLATES.  (a)  The department shall issue specially designed Houston

 1-9     Livestock Show and Rodeo license plates for passenger cars and

1-10     light trucks.

1-11           (b)  The license plates must include the words "Houston

1-12     Livestock Show and Rodeo" and be of a color, quality, and design

1-13     approved by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

1-14           (c)  The department shall issue license plates under this

1-15     section to a person who:

1-16                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the

1-17     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the

1-18     department; and

1-19                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $25, in addition to the fee

1-20     prescribed by Section 502.161, and, if personalized prestige

1-21     license plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by

1-22     Section 502.251.

1-23           (d)  The department shall deposit $20 of each fee collected

1-24     under this section to the credit of the Houston Livestock Show and

 2-1     Rodeo scholarship account in the state treasury.  Money in the

 2-2     account may be used only by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating

 2-3     Board in making grants to benefit the Houston Livestock Show and

 2-4     Rodeo.

 2-5           (e)  The remainder of each fee collected under this section,

 2-6     after deposit as provided by Subsection (d), may be used only to

 2-7     defray the cost of administering this section.

 2-8           (f)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section

 2-9     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner

2-10     shall return the special license plates to the department.

2-11           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-12           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-13     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-14     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-15     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-16     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.