HBA-EVB S.B. 844 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 844 By: Carona Transportation 4/30/1999 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, Texas law allows cities with a population in excess of 100,000 to enforce weight standards on motor vehicles inside city limits. However, there are numerous cities with populations less than 100,000, which have high volumes of motor vehicles on the roadways. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is unable to effectively provide enforcement for these areas. S.B. 844 authorizes cities with populations of 50,000 or more to enforce weight and safety standards for motor vehicles inside city limits. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 621.401, Transportation Code, to redefine "weight enforcement officer" to include a municipal police officer in a municipality with a population of 50,000, rather than 100,000, or more; or a police officer certified under Section 644.101 (Certification of Municipal Police Officers), Transportation Code, rather than Section 6, Article 6675d, V.T.C.S. (Repealed). SECTION 2. Amends Section 621.408, Transportation Code, to make a conforming change. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Amendment #1 Amends S.B. 844 as follows: Strikes Subdivision (4) in SECTION 1 (Section 621.401, Transportation Code), and inserts a new Subdivision (4) to include among the definitions of a "weight enforcement officer," a municipal police officer in a municipality with a population of 100,000 or more; or 74,000 or more in a county with a population of more than 1.5 million. Strikes Subdivision (1) in SECTION 2 (Section 621.408, Transportation Code), and inserts a new Subdivision (1) to make a conforming change.