1-1     By:  Staples (Senate Sponsor - Nixon)                 H.B. No. 1425
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 1999;
 1-3     April 26, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to a traffic offense committed in a construction or
 1-9     maintenance work zone.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 472.022(d), Transportation Code, is
1-12     amended to read as follows:
1-13           (d)  An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
1-14     punishable by a fine of not less than $1 or more than $200, except
1-15     that if the offense is committed in a construction or maintenance
1-16     work zone when workers are present and any written notice to appear
1-17     issued for the offense states on its face that workers were present
1-18     when the offense was committed, the offense is a misdemeanor
1-19     punishable by a fine of not less than $2 or more than $400.
1-20           SECTION 2.  Section 472.022(e)(2), Transportation Code, is
1-21     amended to read as follows:
1-22                 (2)  "Construction or maintenance work zone" means a
1-23     portion of a highway or street:
1-24                       (A)  where highway construction or maintenance is
1-25     being undertaken, other than mobile operations as defined by the
1-26     Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices; and
1-27                       (B)  that is marked by [one or more] signs
1-28     indicating that it is a construction or maintenance work zone and
1-29     stating: "Fines double when workers present."
1-30           SECTION 3.  Section 542.404(a), Transportation Code, is
1-31     amended to read as follows:
1-32           (a)  If an offense under this subtitle, other than an offense
1-33     under Chapter 548 or 552 or Section 545.412 or 545.413, is
1-34     committed in a construction or maintenance work zone when workers
1-35     are present and any written notice to appear issued for the offense
1-36     states on its face that workers were present when the offense was
1-37     committed:
1-38                 (1)  the minimum fine applicable to the offense is
1-39     twice the minimum fine that would be applicable to the offense if
1-40     it were committed outside a construction or maintenance work zone;
1-41     and
1-42                 (2)  the maximum fine applicable to the offense is
1-43     twice the maximum fine that would be applicable to the offense if
1-44     it were committed outside a construction or maintenance work zone.
1-45           SECTION 4.  Section 729.004(b), Transportation Code, is
1-46     amended to read as follows:
1-47           (b)  If an offense to which this section applies is committed
1-48     in a construction or maintenance work zone when workers are present
1-49     and any written notice to appear issued for the offense states on
1-50     its face that workers were present when the offense was committed:
1-51                 (1)  the minimum fine applicable to the offense is
1-52     twice the minimum fine that would be applicable to the offense if
1-53     it were committed outside a construction or maintenance work zone;
1-54     and
1-55                 (2)  the maximum fine applicable to the offense is
1-56     twice the maximum fine that would be applicable to the offense if
1-57     it were committed outside a construction or maintenance work zone.
1-58           SECTION 5.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
1-59     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
1-60     Act.  For the purposes of this section, an offense is committed
1-61     before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
1-62     occurs before that date.
1-63           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
1-64     Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was
 2-1     committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
 2-2     purpose.
 2-3           SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-4           SECTION 7.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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