1-1     By:  Brown, Lucio                                      S.B. No. 670
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 24, 1999; February 25, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     May 13, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Brown
 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 670 in SECTION 1 of the bill by striking proposed
 1-8     Section 327.001(d), Government Code (Introduced Version, page 2,
 1-9     lines 9-10), and substituting the following:
1-10           (d)  The presiding officer and assistant presiding officer of
1-11     the commission shall be designated as provided by this subsection.
1-12     The term of an officer designated under this subsection expires on
1-13     the convening of the next regular session of the legislature after
1-14     the designation.  The lieutenant governor shall designate the
1-15     presiding officer for the initial term of that office, and the
1-16     speaker of the house of representatives shall designate the
1-17     assistant presiding officer to the initial term of that office.
1-18     For each subsequent term, the designation of the presiding officer
1-19     and assistant presiding officer alternates between the lieutenant
1-20     governor and the speaker of the house.  An officer designated by
1-21     the lieutenant governor must be a member of the commission
1-22     appointed by the lieutenant governor, and an officer designated by
1-23     the speaker of the house must be a member of the commission
1-24     appointed by the speaker of the house.
1-25     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2                                By:  Brown
1-26           Amend S.B. No. 670 in SECTION 1 of the bill, in added Section
1-27     327.003(b), Government Code (Introduced Version, page 2, lines
1-28     35-38), by striking added Subdivisions (2) and (3) and substituting
1-29     the following:
1-30           "(2)  during the period preceding the commission's report in
1-31     2003, Articles II, III, IV, V, IX, X, XIV, and XV; and
1-32           (3)  during the period preceding the commission's report in
1-33     2005, Articles VII, VIII, XI, and XII."
1-34     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 3                              By:  Bernsen
1-35           Amend S.B. No. 670, adding an appropriately numbered SECTION
1-36     to read as follows:
1-37           "SECTION ___.  This Act takes effect only if a specific
1-38     appropriation for the implementation of this Act is provided in
1-39     H.B. No. 1 (General Appropriations Act), Acts of the 76th
1-40     Legislature, Regular Session, 1999.  If no specific appropriation
1-41     is provided in H.B. No. 1, the General Appropriations Act, this Act
1-42     has no effect."
1-43                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-44                                   AN ACT
1-45     relating to establishing a commission to study and make
1-46     recommendations for revision of the Texas Constitution.
1-47           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-48           SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 3, Government Code, is amended
1-49     by adding Chapter 327 to read as follows:
1-50             CHAPTER 327.  COMMISSION ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION
1-51           Sec. 327.001.  MEMBERSHIP; ORGANIZATION.  (a)  The Commission
1-52     on Constitutional Revision is an agency of the legislative branch
1-53     of state government.
1-54           (b)  The commission consists of:
1-55                 (1)  four members of the senate appointed by the
1-56     lieutenant governor;
1-57                 (2)  four members of the house of representatives
1-58     appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
1-59                 (3)  one public member appointed by the lieutenant
 2-1     governor; and
 2-2                 (4)  one public member appointed by the speaker of the
 2-3     house of representatives.
 2-4           (c)  Each member of the commission serves a term beginning on
 2-5     the date of the member's appointment and ending with the convening
 2-6     of the next regular session of the legislature that occurs after
 2-7     the date of appointment.  A vacancy on the commission is filled by
 2-8     the officer who appointed the member who vacated the position.
 2-9           (d)  The commission shall elect from its members a presiding
2-10     officer and other officers the commission considers necessary.
2-11           (e)  Members of the commission are entitled to reimbursement
2-12     for necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties,
2-13     subject to any limit provided by the General Appropriations Act.
2-14           Sec. 327.002.  PERSONNEL; ASSISTANCE OF OTHER AGENCIES.
2-15     (a)  The commission may employ a staff to assist the commission in
2-16     the performance of its duties.
2-17           (b)  The Texas Legislative Council shall assist the
2-18     commission on request.
2-19           Sec. 327.003.  DUTIES:  CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION.  (a)  The
2-20     commission shall conduct a comprehensive study of the Texas
2-21     Constitution and shall recommend revisions to the constitution the
2-22     commission considers appropriate to:
2-23                 (1)  repeal, eliminate, or revise obsolete or
2-24     ineffective provisions;
2-25                 (2)  standardize and modernize its organization and
2-26     terminology;
2-27                 (3)  clarify ambiguous or imprecise provisions; or
2-28                 (4)  change state law or state policy.
2-29           (b)  In performing its study and formulating its
2-30     recommendations, the commission shall consider the matters covered
2-31     by the articles of the current constitution according to the
2-32     following schedule:
2-33                 (1)  during the period preceding the commission's
2-34     report in 2001, Articles I, VI, XVI, and XVII;
2-35                 (2)  during the period preceding the commission's
2-36     report in 2003, Articles II, III, IV, V, IX, X, and XV; and
2-37                 (3)  during the period preceding the commission's
2-38     report in 2005, Articles VII and VIII.
2-39           (c)  Subsection (b) does not prohibit the commission from
2-40     considering any matter at any other time or from devising an
2-41     alternate schedule to direct the commission's work.
2-42           Sec. 327.004.  REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.  (a)  Not later
2-43     than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall
2-44     prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and
2-45     the speaker of the house of representatives a report of its
2-46     activities and recommendations.  The report may include specific
2-47     proposals for amending or revising the constitution, including
2-48     drafts of proposed amendments or revisions, and any explanatory or
2-49     supporting materials.  A report may present alternative proposals
2-50     on any matter.
2-51           (b)  The commission may make any additional reports the
2-52     commission considers appropriate.
2-53           (c)  A report may include minority recommendations or
2-54     dissenting statements relating to the commission's recommendations.
2-55           Sec. 327.005.  EXPIRATION.  This chapter expires and the
2-56     commission is abolished September 1, 2005.
2-57           SECTION 2.  The lieutenant governor and speaker of the house
2-58     of representatives shall make the initial appointments to the
2-59     Commission on Constitutional Revision established by Chapter 327,
2-60     Government Code, as added by this act, not later than November 1,
2-61     1999.
2-62           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-63     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-64     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-65     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-66     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-67     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-68     passage, and it is so enacted.
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