By Lindsay S.B. No. 156
76R1493 DRH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the conversion to an elected board of certain mass
1-3 transit authorities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 451, Transportation Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 451.5022 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 451.5022. ELECTED BOARD: CERTAIN AUTHORITIES. (a)
1-8 This section applies only to the board of an authority in which the
1-9 principal municipality has a population of more than 1.2 million.
1-10 (b) The authority shall be divided into 11 districts to
1-11 elect members of the board. The districts must be compact and must
1-12 be as nearly as practicable contiguous and of equal population
1-13 according to the most recent federal census. The districts shall
1-14 be drawn by a panel composed of:
1-15 (1) three members appointed by the governing body of
1-16 the principal municipality;
1-17 (2) three members appointed by the commissioners court
1-18 of the principal county; and
1-19 (3) one member appointed jointly by the governing
1-20 bodies of the municipalities located in the authority other than
1-21 the principal municipality.
1-22 (c) A member of the governing body of the principal or other
1-23 municipality or of the commissioners court may be appointed to the
1-24 panel.
2-1 (d) The panel shall redraw the districts following each
2-2 federal decennial census or at other times as required by the
2-3 addition or loss of territory by the authority.
2-4 (e) Each district is entitled to elect one member to the
2-5 board. A candidate for the board must be a resident of the
2-6 district the candidate seeks to represent. A member of the board
2-7 vacates the office if the member ceases to reside in the district
2-8 the member represents.
2-9 (f) The election for members of the board shall be held on
2-10 the same day as the election for the members of the governing body
2-11 of the principal municipality. To be a candidate for the board, a
2-12 person must pay a filing fee to the authority equal to the filing
2-13 fee that a candidate for the governing body of the principal
2-14 municipality must pay. A candidate must receive a majority of the
2-15 votes in the district to be elected to the board. A runoff
2-16 election shall be held on the same day a runoff election is held
2-17 for the members of the governing body of the principal
2-18 municipality.
2-19 (g) Members of the board serve staggered terms of four
2-20 years. A term begins on January 2 of the year following the
2-21 election. Following a redistricting of the authority after the
2-22 release of a new federal decennial census, an election shall be
2-23 held in each district of the authority. At the first meeting of
2-24 the new board following the election, the members of the board
2-25 shall draw lots to determine the length of their terms. Six
2-26 members shall serve four-year terms and the remaining members shall
2-27 serve two-year terms.
3-1 (h) A vacancy on the board is filled by appointment by the
3-2 remaining board members. The appointed person serves only until
3-3 the next election for members of the board.
3-4 (i) A person may not serve more than 12 years on the board
3-5 and may not be appointed or elected to a term for which service to
3-6 the completion of the term would exceed this limitation.
3-7 (j) Notwithstanding Section 451.519, a board member is
3-8 entitled to be paid $100 for each board meeting attended by the
3-9 member. Instead of this amount the board may pay board members any
3-10 amount that is less than or equal to 20 percent of the amount that
3-11 a county commissioner of the principal county earns. The authority
3-12 shall reimburse a board member for necessary expenses as required
3-13 by Section 451.519(a).
3-14 (k) In this section, "principal county" has the meaning
3-15 assigned by Section 451.501.
3-16 SECTION 2. (a) This section applies only to an authority to
3-17 which Section 451.5022, Transportation Code, as added by Section 1
3-18 of this Act, applies.
3-19 (b) The panel shall draw the districts required by Section
3-20 451.5022(b), Transportation Code, not later than September 15,
3-21 1999.
3-22 (c) The initial election for members to the board shall be
3-23 held on November 2, 1999.
3-24 (d) At the initial meeting of the members who are elected to
3-25 the board, the members of the board shall draw lots to determine
3-26 the length of their terms. Six members shall serve four-year terms
3-27 and the remaining members shall serve two-year terms.
4-1 (e) The terms of all members serving on the board on
4-2 December 31, 1999, expire on the date when a majority of the
4-3 members elected to the board have qualified to take office.
4-4 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-10 passage, and it is so enacted.