HBA-NIK H.B. 2476 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2476 By: Wise Transportation 4/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Children's Trust Fund of Texas Council (council) was established as a state agency in 1985 by the 69th Texas Legislature to help prevent child abuse and neglect by providing funds to assist community-based prevention programs in all areas of the state. The council receives its funding primarily by revenue from a portion of each marriage license fee, but it receives additional funds from private contributions and the National Office on Child Abuse and Neglect Community-Based Family Resource Grant. H.B. 2476 authorizes Texas Department of Transportation to issue a specialized vanity license plate for the council, with a certain portion of the proceeds from the sale of the plates benefitting the work that the council does for abused and neglected children in Texas. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to Texas Department of Transportation and the Children's Trust Fund of Texas Council in SECTION 1 (Section 502.2723, Transportation Code) or this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code, by adding Section 502.2723, as follows: Sec. 502.2723. CHILDREN'S TRUST FUND OF TEXAS COUNCIL LICENSE PLATES. (a) Requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to issue specially designed Children's Trust Fund of Texas Council (council) license plates for passenger cars and light trucks. (b) Provides that the license plates must be of a color, quality, and design approved by the council. Provides that the design must feature artwork of children of this state. (c) Requires TxDOT to issue license plates under this section to a person who applies to the county assessor-collector of the county in which the person resides on a form provided by TxDOT; and pays an annual fee of $25, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section 502.161 (Fee: Passenger Car, Municipal Bus, Private Bus), and, if personalized prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section 502.251 (Personalized Prestige License Plates). (d) Provides that the fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or mutilated license plate issued under this section is $25, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section 502.184(a) (obtaining replacement license plates or replacement registered insignia). (e) Requires TxDOT to deposit $20 to the credit of the children's trust fund under Section 74.006 (Children's Trust Fund), Human Resources Code, of each $25 fee collected under Subsection (c) or (d). Authorizes the remainder of the fee to be used by TxDOT only to defray the cost of administering this section. (f) Requires the owner to return the license plates to TxDOT if the owner of a vehicle registered under this section disposes of the vehicle during the registration year. (g) Authorizes that there is no limit to the number of passenger cars or light trucks for which a person may apply for the issuance of license plates under this section. (h) Requires TxDOT to design souvenir sample council license plates designed in accordance with Subsection (b). Requires TxDOT and the council to adopt joint rules governing the sale of the souvenir sample license plates. Provides that the fee for a souvenir sample license plate is $10. Requires, of each fee collected by TxDOT or the council, $3 to be credited to TxDOT for the administration of this subsection and $7 to be credited to the children's trust fund. (i) Authorizes the council to use money credited to the children's trust fund under this section only to fund programs under Chapter 74 (Children's Trust Fund of Texas Council), Human Resources Code, in the county from which the money was derived. Provides that the council is not required to fund a program in a county under this subsection until at least $1,000 has been derived under Subsections (c) and (d) from persons applying for registration in that county and under Subsection (h) from persons residing in that county. (j) Provides that money deposited to the credit of the children's trust fund under this section and interest on that money is exempt from the application of Section 403.095 (Use of Dedicated Revenue), Government Code. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.