BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 212 By: Keel Urban Affairs Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chapter 216 of the Local Government Code is entitled Regulation of Signs By Municipalities. Among other provisions, it contains requirements for statutory compensation for the relocation, reconstruction, or removal of signs. It provides for the appointment of a municipal board of sign control. Subchapter Z, Miscellaneous Provisions, would be amended by H.B. 212 by adding the proposed regulation of political signs. Currently, subchapter Z permits a home-rule city to "license, regulate, control, or prohibit" signs and billboards both within the city and within the extraterritorial jurisdiction, with some exceptions. The purpose of H.B. 212 is to prohibit municipal regulation of political signs on private real property not subject to an easement. In the recent election cycle, municipalities have attempted to regulate political signs by requiring a $100 deposit before their placement. Citizens have complained that this regulation unconstitutionally restricts 1st Amendment rights. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Local Government Code, chapter 216, subchapter Z, to add 216.903 to prohibit any city from regulating by city charter or by city ordinance any sign on private property not subject to an easement if the sign contains "primarily a political message." The city could not prohibit such signs nor require a permit or fee for their placement. Furthermore, the city cannot discriminate against political signs as to their size. H.B. 212 would not apply to billboards and the like. SECTION 2. Effective date. EFFECTIVE DATE: September 1, 2003. HB 212 78(R)