S.B. 139 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


S.B. 139
By: Lucio
Transportation
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Queen Isabella Causeway collapsed on September 14, 2001, when it was
hit by four barges. Eight people died as a result of the collapse.  S.B.
139 honors those who lost their lives, those who survived the tragedy, and
those who assisted in the rescue by renaming the bridge as the Queen
Isabella Memorial Bridge. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution. 

ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 225B, Transportation Code, by adding Section
225.057, as follows: 

Sec.  225.057.  QUEEN ISABELLA MEMORIAL BRIDGE.  (a)  Provides that the
structure connecting State Highway 100 and Park Road 100 between the
eastern municipal boundary of Port Isabel and the western boundary of
Padre Island is designated as the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge as a
memorial to the deceased, the survivors, and the heroes of that tragic
event. 

(b)  Requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to design and
construct memorial markers indicating the designation as the Queen
Isabella Memorial Bridge and any other appropriate information. 

(c)  Requires TxDOT to erect a marker at each end of the structure and at
any appropriate intermediate sites along the structure. 

(d)  Provides that in this section, a reference to a Port Isabel municipal
boundary means that boundary as it exists on January 1, 2003. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2003.

EFFECTIVE DATE

Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2003.