1-1     By:  Harris                                           S.B. No. 1900
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed April 30, 1999; May 3, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     May 12, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8,
 1-5     Nays 1; May 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to issuance of special "Choose Life" license plates.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
1-11     is amended by adding Section 502.298 to read as follows:
1-12           Sec. 502.298.  CHOOSE LIFE LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The
1-13     department shall issue specially designed license plates for
1-14     passenger cars and light trucks that include the words "Choose
1-15     Life."
1-16           (b)  The department shall issue license plates under this
1-17     section to a person who:
1-18                 (1)  applies to the county assessor-collector of the
1-19     county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
1-20     department; and
1-21                 (2)  pays an annual fee of $20, in addition to the fee
1-22     prescribed by Section 502.161 and, if personalized prestige license
1-23     plates are issued, in addition to the fee prescribed by Section
1-24     502.251.
1-25           (c)  Of each fee collected under this section, the department
1-26     shall deposit $20 in the state treasury to the credit of the
1-27     department of human services assistance operating fund.  Money
1-28     deposited in the fund under this section may be used only by the
1-29     Texas Department of Human Services to support the activities of
1-30     nonprofit groups in this state whose services are limited to
1-31     counseling and meeting the physical needs of pregnant women who are
1-32     committed to placing their children for adoption. The Texas
1-33     Department of Human Services shall establish reporting and other
1-34     mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money is expended for those
1-35     purposes.
1-36           (d)  If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
1-37     disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
1-38     shall return the special license plates to the department.
1-39           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-40           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-41     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-42     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-43     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-44     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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