1-1     By:  Bernsen                                           S.B. No. 639
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 1999; February 24, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 29, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8,
 1-5     Nays 0; March 29, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the issuance of special license plates to benefit the
 1-9     Texas Economic Development Corporation.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
1-12     is amended by adding Section 502.2733 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 502.2733.  TEXAS. IT'S LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY
1-14     LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The department shall issue specially designed
1-15     "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" license plates for
1-16     passenger cars and light trucks.
1-17           (b)  The license plates must include the trademarked Texas
1-18     patch and the words "Texas.  It's Like A Whole Other Country" and
1-19     be of a color, quality, and design approved by the Texas Department
1-20     of Economic Development.
1-21           (c)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-22     section to a person who:
1-23                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-24     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
1-25     department; and
1-26                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $30, in addition to the fee
1-27     prescribed by Section 502.161 and, if personalized prestige license
1-28     plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-29     502.251.
1-30           (d)  Of each fee collected under this section:
1-31                 (1)  the comptroller shall transmit $25 to the Texas
1-32     Economic Development Corporation established under Section 481.024,
1-33     Government Code, to be used for performance of the corporation's
1-34     functions; and
1-35                 (2)  $5 shall be deposited to the credit of the state
1-36     highway fund to defray the cost of administering this section.
1-37           (e)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
1-38     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
1-39     shall return the special license plates to the department.
1-40           SECTION 2.  Before January 1, 2004, the comptroller of public
1-41     accounts shall determine the total amount collected under
1-42     Subdivision (1), Subsection (d), Section 502.2733, Transportation
1-43     Code, as added by this Act, before September 1, 2003, and shall
1-44     submit the determination to the secretary of state for publication
1-45     in the Texas Register.  If the amount of the comptroller's
1-46     determination is less than $100,000, Section 502.2733,
1-47     Transportation Code, as added by this Act, expires January 1, 2004.
1-48           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-49           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-50     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-51     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-52     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-53     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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