1-1     By:  Rangel, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro)        H.B. No. 1041
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999;
 1-3     April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 12, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the registration period for a truck-tractor or
 1-9     commercial motor vehicle transporting seasonal agricultural
1-10     products; providing a penalty.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
1-13     is amended by adding Section 502.1585 to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 502.1585.  REGISTRATION PERIOD FOR TRUCK-TRACTOR OR
1-15     COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE TRANSPORTING SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL
1-16     PRODUCTS.  (a)  The department shall provide for a monthly
1-17     registration period for a truck-tractor or a commercial motor
1-18     vehicle that:
1-19                 (1)  is used exclusively to transport a seasonal
1-20     agricultural product; and
1-21                 (2)  would otherwise be registered for a vehicle
1-22     registration year.
1-23           (b)  The department shall adopt forms for registration under
1-24     this section. An applicant must indicate the number of months
1-25     registration is applied for.
1-26           (c)  The department shall design, prescribe, and furnish a
1-27     registration receipt and registration insignia that are valid until
1-28     the expiration of the designated registration period.
1-29           (d)  The registration fee for a registration under this
1-30     section is computed at a rate of one-twelfth the annual
1-31     registration fee under Section 502.162 or 502.167, as applicable,
1-32     multiplied by the number of months in the registration period
1-33     specified in the application for the registration.
1-34           (e)  A person issued a registration under this section
1-35     commits an offense if the person, during the registration period
1-36     for the truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle, uses the
1-37     truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle for a purpose other than
1-38     to transport a seasonal agricultural product.
1-39           (f)  A truck-tractor or commercial motor vehicle may not be
1-40     registered under this section for a registration period that is
1-41     less than one month or longer than six months.
1-42           (g)  For purposes of this section, "to transport a seasonal
1-43     agricultural product" includes any transportation activity
1-44     necessary for the production, harvest, or delivery of an
1-45     agricultural product that is produced seasonally.
1-46           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-47           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-48     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-49     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-50     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-51     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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