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)