76R11027 DRH-D                           
         By Davis of Dallas                                    H.B. No. 2539
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2539:
         By Davis of Dallas                                C.S.H.B. No. 2539
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the issuance of temporary license plates for vehicle
 1-3     converters.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 503, Transportation Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 503.0625 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 503.0625.  CONVERTER'S TEMPORARY CARDBOARD TAGS.  (a)
 1-8     In this section, "converter" means a person who holds a converter's
 1-9     license issued under the Texas Motor Vehicle  Commission Code
1-10     (Article 4413(36), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-11           (b)  A converter may issue a temporary cardboard tag for use
1-12     on an unregistered vehicle by the converter or the converter's
1-13     employees only to:
1-14                 (1)  demonstrate or cause to be demonstrated to a
1-15     prospective buyer who is a dealer the vehicle; or
1-16                 (2)  convey or cause to be conveyed the vehicle:
1-17                       (A)  from one of the converter's places of
1-18     business in this state to another of the converter's places of
1-19     business in this state;
1-20                       (B)  from the converter's place of business to a
1-21     place the vehicle is to be repaired, reconditioned, modified, or
1-22     serviced;
1-23                       (C)  from the state line or a location in this
1-24     state where the vehicle is unloaded to the converter's place of
 2-1     business;
 2-2                       (D)  from the converter's place of business to a
 2-3     place of business of a dealer; or
 2-4                       (E)  to road test the vehicle.
 2-5           (c)  Subsection (b)(1) does not prohibit a converter from
 2-6     permitting a prospective buyer who is a dealer to operate a vehicle
 2-7     while the vehicle is being demonstrated.
 2-8           (d)  A vehicle being conveyed under this section is exempt
 2-9     from the inspection requirements of Chapter 548.
2-10           (e)  The department may not issue a converter temporary
2-11     cardboard tag or contract for the issuance of a converter temporary
2-12     cardboard tag but shall prescribe the specifications, form, and
2-13     color of a converter temporary cardboard tag.
2-14           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-15           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.