1-1     By:  Shapiro                                          S.J.R. No. 16
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 25, 2001; January 29, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     February 28, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0;
 1-6     February 28, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.J.R. No. 16                 By:  Shapiro
 1-8                           SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
 1-9     proposing a constitutional amendment creating the Texas Mobility
1-10     Fund and authorizing the issuance of obligations for financing the
1-11     construction, reconstruction, acquisition, and expansion of state
1-12     highways and other mobility projects.
1-13           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by
1-15     adding Section 49-k to read as follows:
1-16           Sec. 49-k.  (a)  In this section:
1-17                 (1)  "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
1-18     Commission or its successor.
1-19                 (2)  "Comptroller" means the comptroller of public
1-20     accounts of the State of Texas.
1-21                 (3)  "Fund" means the Texas Mobility Fund.
1-22                 (4)  "Obligations" means bonds, notes, and other
1-23     negotiable instruments.
1-24           (b)  The Texas Mobility Fund is created with the comptroller
1-25     as a revolving fund to provide a method of financing the
1-26     construction, reconstruction, acquisition, and expansion of state
1-27     highways, including any necessary design and acquisition of
1-28     rights-of-way, as determined by the commission in accordance with
1-29     standards and procedures established by law.
1-30           (c)  Money in the fund may also be used to provide
1-31     participation by the state in the payment of a portion of the costs
1-32     of constructing and providing publicly owned toll roads and other
1-33     public transportation projects in accordance with procedures,
1-34     standards, and limitations established by law.  Income on money in
1-35     the fund shall be deposited in the fund.
1-36           (d)  The commission may issue and sell obligations of the
1-37     state, and enter into related credit agreements, that are payable
1-38     from and secured by a pledge of and a lien on all or part of the
1-39     money on deposit from time to time in the fund in an aggregate
1-40     principal amount that can be repaid when due from the money on
1-41     deposit in the fund, including money that is required, by law
1-42     enacted under Subsection (e) of this section, to be deposited in
1-43     the fund, as that aggregate amount is projected by the comptroller
1-44     in accordance with procedures established by law.  The proceeds of
1-45     the obligations must be deposited in the fund and used:
1-46                 (1)  for one or more of the specific purposes
1-47     authorized by law, including:
1-48                       (A)  refunding obligations authorized by this
1-49     section;
1-50                       (B)  creating reserves for payment of the
1-51     obligations and related credit agreements;
1-52                       (C)  paying the costs of issuance; and
1-53                       (D)  paying interest on the obligations and
1-54     related credit agreements for a period not longer than the maximum
1-55     period established by law; and
1-56                 (2)  in the manner, to the extent, on the terms, and
1-57     subject to the limitations prescribed or permitted by law.
1-58           (e)  The legislature by law may dedicate to the fund one or
1-59     more specific sources or portions or a specific amount of the
1-60     revenue, including taxes, and other money of the state.  In
1-61     exercising that authority, the legislature may dedicate to the fund
1-62     only that portion of the money received from the levy and
1-63     collection of motor vehicle registration fees and from taxes on
1-64     motor fuels and lubricants that are dedicated for public highway
 2-1     and roadway purposes by Section 7-a, Article VIII, of this
 2-2     constitution that result from the payment out of other funds of the
 2-3     state of costs to which those fees and taxes are dedicated.
 2-4           (f)  Money dedicated as provided by this section is
 2-5     appropriated when received by the state, shall be deposited in the
 2-6     fund, and may be used as provided by this section and law enacted
 2-7     under this section without further appropriation.  While money in
 2-8     the fund is pledged to the payment of any outstanding obligations
 2-9     or related credit agreements, the dedication of a specific source
2-10     or portion of revenue, taxes, or other money made as provided by
2-11     this section may not be reduced, rescinded, or repealed unless:
2-12                 (1)  the legislature by law dedicates a substitute or
2-13     different source that is projected by the comptroller to be of a
2-14     value equal to or greater than the source or amount being reduced,
2-15     rescinded, or repealed and authorizes the commission to implement
2-16     the authority granted by Subsection (g) of this section; and
2-17                 (2)  the commission implements the authority granted by
2-18     the legislature pursuant to Subsection (g) of this section.
2-19           (g)  In addition to the dedication of specified sources or
2-20     amounts of revenue, taxes, or money as provided by Subsection (e)
2-21     of this section, the legislature may by law authorize the
2-22     commission to guarantee the payment of any obligations and credit
2-23     agreements issued and executed by the commission under the
2-24     authority of this section by pledging the full faith and credit of
2-25     the state to that payment if dedicated revenue is insufficient for
2-26     that purpose.  If that authority is granted and is implemented by
2-27     the commission, while any of the bonds, notes, other obligations,
2-28     or credit agreements are outstanding and unpaid, and for any fiscal
2-29     year during which the dedicated revenue, taxes, and money are
2-30     insufficient to make all payments when due, there is appropriated,
2-31     and there shall be deposited in the fund, out of the first money
2-32     coming into the state treasury in each fiscal year that is not
2-33     otherwise appropriated by this constitution, an amount that is
2-34     sufficient to pay the principal of the obligations and agreements
2-35     and the interest on the obligations and agreements that become due
2-36     during that fiscal year, minus any amount in the fund that is
2-37     available for that payment in accordance with applicable law.
2-38           (h)  All obligations and related credit agreements to be
2-39     issued and executed under the authority of this section shall be
2-40     submitted to the attorney general for approval as to their
2-41     legality.  If the attorney general finds that they will be issued
2-42     in accordance with this section and applicable law, the attorney
2-43     general shall approve them, and, after payment by the purchasers of
2-44     the obligations in accordance with the terms of sale and after
2-45     execution and delivery of the related credit agreements, they are
2-46     incontestable for any cause.
2-47           (i)  Obligations and credit agreements issued or executed
2-48     under the authority of this section may not be included in the
2-49     computation required by Section 49-j, Article III, of this
2-50     constitution, except that if money in a specified amount has been
2-51     dedicated to the fund without specification of its source or the
2-52     authority granted by Subsection (g) of this section has been
2-53     implemented, the obligations and credit agreements shall be
2-54     included to the extent the comptroller projects that general funds
2-55     of the state, if any, will be required to pay amounts due on or on
2-56     account of the obligations and credit agreements.
2-57           (j)  The collection and deposit of the amounts required by
2-58     this section, applicable law, and contract to be applied to the
2-59     payment of obligations and related credit agreements issued,
2-60     executed, and secured under the authority of this section may be
2-61     enforced by mandamus against the commission, an agency governed by
2-62     the commission, and the comptroller in a district court of Travis
2-63     County, and the sovereign immunity of the state is waived for that
2-64     purpose.
2-65           SECTION 2.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
2-66     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
2-67     The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
2-68     proposition: "The constitutional amendment creating the Texas
2-69     Mobility Fund and authorizing the issuance of obligations for
 3-1     financing the construction, reconstruction, acquisition, and
 3-2     expansion of state highways and other mobility projects."
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