By:  Bernsen                                           S.B. No. 639
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the issuance of special license plates to benefit the
 1-2     Texas Economic Development Corporation.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
 1-5     is amended by adding Section 502.2733 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 502.2733.  TEXAS. IT'S LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY
 1-7     LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The department shall issue specially designed
 1-8     "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" license plates for
 1-9     passenger cars and light trucks.
1-10           (b)  The license plates must include the trademarked Texas
1-11     patch and the words "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" and
1-12     be of a color, quality, and design approved by the Texas Department
1-13     of Economic Development.
1-14           (c)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-15     section to a person who:
1-16                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-17     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
1-18     department; and
1-19                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $30, in addition to the fee
1-20     prescribed by Section 502.161 and, if personalized prestige license
1-21     plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-22     502.251.
1-23           (d)  Of each fee collected under this section:
1-24                 (1)  the comptroller shall transmit $25 to the Texas
 2-1     Economic Development Corporation established under Section 481.024,
 2-2     Government Code, to be used for performance of the corporation's
 2-3     functions; and
 2-4                 (2)  $5 shall be deposited to the credit of the state
 2-5     highway fund to defray the cost of administering this section.
 2-6           (e)  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 special license plates to the department.
 2-9           SECTION 2.  Before January 1, 2004, the comptroller of public
2-10     accounts shall determine the total amount collected under
2-11     Subdivision (1), Subsection (d), Section 502.2733, Transportation
2-12     Code, as added by this Act, before September 1, 2003, and shall
2-13     submit the determination to the secretary of state for publication
2-14     in the Texas Register.  If the amount of the comptroller's
2-15     determination is less than $100,000, Section 502.2733,
2-16     Transportation Code, as added by this Act, expires January 1, 2004.
2-17           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-18           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.