By Harris                                             S.B. No. 1900
         76R14013 WP-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to issuance of special "Choose Life" license plates.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
 1-5     is amended by adding Section 502.298 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 502.298.  CHOOSE LIFE LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The
 1-7     department shall issue specially designed license plates for
 1-8     passenger cars and light trucks that include the words "Choose
 1-9     Life."
1-10           (b)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-11     section to a person who:
1-12                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-13     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
1-14     department; and
1-15                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $20, in addition to the fee
1-16     prescribed by Section 502.161 and, if personalized prestige license
1-17     plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-18     502.251.
1-19           (c)  Of each fee collected under this section, the department
1-20     shall deposit $20 in the state treasury to the credit of the
1-21     department of human services assistance operating fund.  Money
1-22     deposited in the fund under this section may be used only by the
1-23     Texas Department of Human Services to support the activities of
1-24     nonprofit groups in this state whose services are limited to
 2-1     counseling and meeting the physical needs of pregnant women who are
 2-2     committed to placing their children for adoption.  The Texas
 2-3     Department of Human Services shall establish reporting and other
 2-4     mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money is expended for those
 2-5     purposes.
 2-6           (d)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
 2-7     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
 2-8     shall return the special license plates to the department.
 2-9           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-10           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-11     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-12     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-13     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-14     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.