By Lindsay                                             S.B. No. 175
         77R998 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to parking privileges for vehicles of certain veterans or
 1-3     the surviving spouses of certain veterans.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 681.008, Transportation Code, as amended
 1-6     by Chapters 738, 1195, and 1362, Acts of the 76th Legislature,
 1-7     Regular Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 681.008.  PARKING PRIVILEGES: CERTAIN VETERANS. (a)  A
 1-9     vehicle may be parked for an unlimited period in a parking space or
1-10     area that is designated specifically for persons with physical
1-11     disabilities if:
1-12                 (1)  the vehicle is being operated by or for the
1-13     transportation of:
1-14                       (A)  the person who registered the vehicle under
1-15     Section 502.254(a); or
1-16                       (B)  a person described by Section 502.254(b) if
1-17     the vehicle is registered under that subsection; and
1-18                 (2)  there are displayed on the vehicle special license
1-19     plates issued under Section 502.254.
1-20           (b)  A vehicle on which license plates issued under Section
1-21     502.254, 502.255, 502.257, 502.259, or 502.260 are displayed is
1-22     exempt from the payment of a parking fee, including a fee collected
1-23     through a parking meter, charged by a governmental authority,
1-24     including an institution of higher education, as defined by Section
 2-1     61.003, Education Code, but not including [other than] a branch of
 2-2     the federal government, when being operated by or for the
 2-3     transportation of:
 2-4                 (1)  the person who registered the vehicle under
 2-5     Section 502.254(a), 502.255, 502.257, 502.259, or 502.260; or
 2-6                 (2)  a person described in Section 502.254(b) if the
 2-7     vehicle is registered under that subsection. [A governmental unit
 2-8     may provide by ordinance or order that the exemption provided by
 2-9     Subsection (a) also applies to payment of a fee or penalty imposed
2-10     by the governmental unit for parking in a parking garage or lot or
2-11     in a space with a limitation on the length of time for parking.]
2-12           (c)  This section does not permit a vehicle to be parked at a
2-13     time when or a place where parking is prohibited.
2-14           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.