By Bernsen                                             S.B. No. 639
         76R4853 DWS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the issuance of special license plates to benefit the
 1-3     Texas Economic Development Corporation.
 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 502.2733 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 502.2733.  TEXAS. IT'S LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY
 1-8     LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The department shall issue specially designed
 1-9     "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" license plates for
1-10     passenger cars and light trucks.
1-11           (b)  The license plates must include the trademarked Texas
1-12     patch and the words "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" and
1-13     be of a color, quality, and design approved by the Texas Department
1-14     of Economic Development.
1-15           (c)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-16     section to a person who:
1-17                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-18     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
1-19     department; and
1-20                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $30, in addition to the fee
1-21     prescribed by Section 502.161 and, if personalized prestige license
1-22     plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-23     502.251.
1-24           (d)  Of each fee collected under this section:
 2-1                 (1)  the comptroller shall transmit $25 to the Texas
 2-2     Economic Development Corporation established under Section 481.024,
 2-3     Government Code, to be used for performance of the corporation's
 2-4     functions; and
 2-5                 (2)  $5 shall be deposited to the credit of the state
 2-6     highway fund to defray the cost of administering this section.
 2-7           (e)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
 2-8     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
 2-9     shall return the special license plates to the department.
2-10           SECTION 2.  Before January 1, 2004, the comptroller shall
2-11     determine the total amount collected under Section 502.2733(d)(1),
2-12     Transportation Code, as added by this Act, before September 1,
2-13     2003, and shall submit the determination to the secretary of state
2-14     for publication in the Texas Register.  If the amount of the
2-15     comptroller's determination is less than $100,000, Section
2-16     502.2733, Transportation Code, as added by this Act, expires
2-17     January 1, 2004.
2-18           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-19           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.