By Brown S.B. No. 670
76R2999 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to establishing a commission to study and make
1-3 recommendations for revision of the Texas Constitution.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 3, Government Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Chapter 327 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 327. COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION
1-8 Sec. 327.001. MEMBERSHIP; ORGANIZATION. (a) The Commission
1-9 on Constitutional Revision is an agency of the legislative branch
1-10 of state government.
1-11 (b) The commission consists of:
1-12 (1) four members of the senate appointed by the
1-13 lieutenant governor;
1-14 (2) four members of the house of representatives
1-15 appointed by the speaker of the house;
1-16 (3) one public member appointed by the lieutenant
1-17 governor; and
1-18 (4) one public member appointed by the speaker of the
1-19 house.
1-20 (c) Each member of the commission serves a term beginning on
1-21 the date of the member's appointment and ending with the convening
1-22 of the next regular session of the legislature that occurs after
1-23 the date of appointment. A vacancy on the commission is filled by
1-24 the officer who appointed the member who vacated the position.
2-1 (d) The commission shall elect from its members a presiding
2-2 officer and other officers the commission considers necessary.
2-3 (e) Members of the commission are entitled to reimbursement
2-4 for necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties,
2-5 subject to any limit provided by the General Appropriations Act.
2-6 Sec. 327.002. PERSONNEL; ASSISTANCE OF OTHER AGENCIES. (a)
2-7 The commission may employ a staff to assist the commission in the
2-8 performance of its duties.
2-9 (b) The Texas Legislative Council shall assist the
2-10 commission on request.
2-11 Sec. 327.003. DUTIES: CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION. (a) The
2-12 commission shall conduct a comprehensive study of the Texas
2-13 Constitution and shall recommend revisions to the constitution the
2-14 commission considers appropriate to:
2-15 (1) repeal, eliminate, or revise obsolete or
2-16 ineffective provisions;
2-17 (2) standardize and modernize its organization and
2-18 terminology;
2-19 (3) clarify ambiguous or imprecise provisions; or
2-20 (4) change state law or state policy.
2-21 (b) In performing its study and formulating its
2-22 recommendations, the commission shall consider the matters covered
2-23 by the articles of the current constitution according to the
2-24 following schedule:
2-25 (1) during the period preceding the commission's
2-26 report in 2001, Articles I, VI, XVI, and XVII;
2-27 (2) during the period preceding the commission's
3-1 report in 2003, Articles II, III, IV, V, IX, X, and XV; and
3-2 (3) during the period preceding the commission's
3-3 report in 2005, Articles VII and VIII.
3-4 (c) Subsection (b) does not prohibit the commission from
3-5 considering any matter at any other time or from devising an
3-6 alternate schedule to direct the commission's work.
3-7 Sec. 327.004. REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) Not later
3-8 than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall
3-9 prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and
3-10 the speaker of the house a report of its activities and
3-11 recommendations. The report may include specific proposals for
3-12 amending or revising the constitution, including drafts of proposed
3-13 amendments or revisions, and any explanatory or supporting
3-14 materials. A report may present alternative proposals on any
3-15 matter.
3-16 (b) The commission may make any additional reports the
3-17 commission considers appropriate.
3-18 (c) A report may include minority recommendations or
3-19 dissenting statements relating to the commission's recommendations.
3-20 Sec. 327.005. EXPIRATION. This chapter expires and the
3-21 commission is abolished September 1, 2005.
3-22 SECTION 2. The lieutenant governor and speaker of the house
3-23 shall make the initial appointments to the Constitutional Revision
3-24 Commission established by Chapter 327, Government Code, not later
3-25 than November 1, 1999.
3-26 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-4 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-5 passage, and it is so enacted.