1-1     By:  Lindsay                                           S.B. No. 175
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed December 20, 2000; January 11, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs and
 1-4     Military Installations; February 8, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; February 8, 2001, sent to
 1-6     printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to parking privileges for vehicles of certain veterans or
1-10     the surviving spouses of certain veterans.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 681.008, Transportation Code, as amended
1-13     by Chapters 738, 1195, and 1362, Acts of the 76th Legislature,
1-14     Regular Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 681.008.  PARKING PRIVILEGES:  CERTAIN VETERANS.  (a)  A
1-16     vehicle may be parked for an unlimited period in a parking space or
1-17     area that is designated specifically for persons with physical
1-18     disabilities if:
1-19                 (1)  the vehicle is being operated by or for the
1-20     transportation of:
1-21                       (A)  the person who registered the vehicle under
1-22     Section 502.254(a); or
1-23                       (B)  a person described by Section 502.254(b) if
1-24     the vehicle is registered under that subsection; and
1-25                 (2)  there are displayed on the vehicle special license
1-26     plates issued under Section 502.254.
1-27           (b)  A vehicle on which license plates issued under Section
1-28     502.254, 502.255, 502.257, 502.259, or 502.260 are displayed is
1-29     exempt from the payment of a parking fee, including a fee collected
1-30     through a parking meter, charged by a governmental authority,
1-31     including an institution of higher education, as defined by Section
1-32     61.003, Education Code, but not including [other than] a branch of
1-33     the federal government, when being operated by or for the
1-34     transportation of:
1-35                 (1)  the person who registered the vehicle under
1-36     Section 502.254(a), 502.255, 502.257, 502.259, or 502.260; or
1-37                 (2)  a person described in Section 502.254(b) if the
1-38     vehicle is registered under that subsection. [A governmental unit
1-39     may provide by ordinance or order that the exemption provided by
1-40     Subsection (a) also applies to payment of a fee or penalty imposed
1-41     by the governmental unit for parking in a parking garage or lot or
1-42     in a space with a limitation on the length of time for parking.]
1-43           (c)  This section does not permit a vehicle to be parked at a
1-44     time when or a place where parking is prohibited.
1-45           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-46                                  * * * * *