By West                                               H.B. No. 1906
         76R5223 DWS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to special license plates benefiting parks, fisheries, and
 1-3     wildlife.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 502.298 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 502.298.  CONSERVATION LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The
 1-8     department shall issue one or more specially designed conservation
 1-9     license plates for  passenger cars and light trucks to support
1-10     Texas Parks and Wildlife Department activities.
1-11           (b)  Each of the license plates must be of a color, quality,
1-12     and design  approved by the  Parks and Wildlife Department.
1-13           (c)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-14     section to a person who:
1-15                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-16     county in which the person resides on an original or renewal
1-17     registration application form provided by the department; and
1-18                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $25, in addition to the fee
1-19     prescribed by Section 502.161, and, if personalized prestige
1-20     license plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by
1-21     Section 502.251.
1-22           (d)  Of each $25 fee collected under Subsection (c) or (e),
1-23     the department shall deposit $20 to the credit of the Texas parks
1-24     and wildlife capital account established by Section 11.043, Parks
 2-1     and Wildlife Code.  The remaining $5 of the fee may be used by the
 2-2     department to defray the cost of administering this section.
 2-3           (e)  The fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or mutilated
 2-4     license plate issued under this section is $25, in addition to the
 2-5     fee prescribed by Section 502.184(a).
 2-6           (f)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
 2-7     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
 2-8     shall return the license plates to the  department.
 2-9           (g)  There is no limit to the number of passenger cars or
2-10     light trucks for which a person may apply for the issuance of
2-11     license plates under this section.
2-12           (h)  Money deposited in the Texas parks and wildlife capital
2-13     account under this section is supplementary and is not income for
2-14     the purposes of  reducing general revenue appropriations to the
2-15     Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
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.