1-1     By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1358
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     April 23, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 23, 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 for emergency
 1-9     medical services personnel.
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 502.298 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 502.298.  EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL.
1-14     (a)  The department shall issue specially designed license plates
1-15     for passenger cars and light trucks owned by emergency medical
1-16     services personnel certified or licensed by the Texas Department of
1-17     Health.
1-18           (b)  The license plates shall include the words "Emergency
1-19     Medical Services" and shall display a blue reflective Star of Life.
1-20           (c)  A person may apply to the department for registration
1-21     under this section at any time through the county
1-22     assessor-collector of the county in which the person resides.  The
1-23     department shall prescribe the form of the application. The
1-24     department shall require the applicant to submit satisfactory proof
1-25     of eligibility under this section.
1-26           (d)  The fee for registration under this section and issuance
1-27     of the special plates is the fee otherwise prescribed for the
1-28     vehicle by this chapter plus an additional fee of $4.  The county
1-29     assessor-collector shall send the additional fee to the department
1-30     to defray the cost of providing the special license plates.
1-31           (e)  Registration under this section is valid for one year.
1-32           (f)  A person may register, for the person's own use, only
1-33     one vehicle under this section.
1-34           (g)  The owner of a vehicle registered under this section
1-35     shall return the special license plates to the department if the
1-36     owner disposes of the vehicle during the registration year.  The
1-37     owner may then register another vehicle under this section.
1-38           (h)  If action is taken by the Texas Department of Health
1-39     resulting in loss of the certification or license of the owner of
1-40     the vehicle, the owner shall return the special license plates to
1-41     the department.
1-42           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-43           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-44     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-45     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-46     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-47     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-48                                  * * * * *