By Rangel                                             H.B. No. 1041
         76R614 DRH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the registration period for a truck-tractor or
 1-3     commercial motor vehicle transporting seasonal agricultural
 1-4     products; providing a penalty.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
 1-7     is amended by adding Section 502.1585 to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 502.1585.  REGISTRATION PERIOD FOR TRUCK-TRACTOR OR
 1-9     COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE TRANSPORTING SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL
1-10     PRODUCTS.  (a)  The department shall provide for a monthly
1-11     registration period for a truck-tractor or a commercial motor
1-12     vehicle that:
1-13                 (1)  is used exclusively to transport a seasonal
1-14     agricultural product; and
1-15                 (2)  would otherwise be registered for a vehicle
1-16     registration year.
1-17           (b)  The department shall adopt forms for registration under
1-18     this section. An applicant must indicate the number of months
1-19     registration is applied for.
1-20           (c)  The department shall design, prescribe, and furnish a
1-21     registration receipt and registration insignia that are valid until
1-22     the expiration of the designated registration period.
1-23           (d)  The registration fee for a registration under this
1-24     section is computed at a rate of one-twelfth the annual
 2-1     registration fee under Section 502.162 or 502.167, as applicable,
 2-2     multiplied by the number of months in the registration period
 2-3     specified in the application for the registration.
 2-4           (e)  A person issued a registration under this section
 2-5     commits an offense if the person, during the registration period
 2-6     for the truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle, uses the
 2-7     truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle for a purpose other than
 2-8     to transport a seasonal agricultural product.
 2-9           (f)  A truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle may not be
2-10     registered under this section for a registration period that is
2-11     less than one month or longer than six months.
2-12           (g)  For purposes of this section, "to transport a seasonal
2-13     agricultural product" includes any transportation activity
2-14     necessary for the production, harvest, or delivery of an
2-15     agricultural product that is produced seasonally.
2-16           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-17           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-18     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-19     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-20     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-21     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.