By Alexander                                          H.B. No. 1495
         76R1887 MXM-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to eligibility for appointment to the board of a rural
 1-3     fire prevention district.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 794.033(e), Health and Safety Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (e)  To be eligible for appointment to the board of a
 1-8     district [in a county with a population of 450,000 or more that has
 1-9     not established a public health district under Chapter 121], a
1-10     person must reside in or own [be a resident of or owner of] real
1-11     property in the district.
1-12           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.    The
1-13     change in  law made  by this Act applies only to a person who is
1-14     appointed to a board of fire commissioners on or after that date.
1-15     A person appointed to a  board  of  fire commissioners  before  the
1-16     effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
1-17     appointment was made, and  the  former  law  is  continued  in
1-18     effect for that purpose.
1-19           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.