By Mowery                                             H.B. No. 1901
         76R7874 CLG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the adoption of standards and specifications for
 1-3     eliminating architectural barriers encountered by persons with
 1-4     disabilities.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 5(c), Article 9102, Revised Statutes, is
 1-7     amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (c)  The standards and specifications to be adopted by the
 1-9     commissioner under this article shall be equivalent [consistent in
1-10     effect] to those adopted under the Americans with Disabilities Act
1-11     of 1990 (42 U.S.C.  Section 12101 et seq.), and its subsequent
1-12     amendments [by the American National Standards Institute, Inc. (or
1-13     its federally recognized successor in function)], and the
1-14     department shall publish the standards and specifications in a
1-15     readily accessible form for the use of interested parties.  The
1-16     standards, specifications, and other rules to be adopted by the
1-17     commissioner under this article shall also be consistent with those
1-18     adopted under other federal law.
1-19           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-20           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.