78R12509 ATP-F
By: Chavez, Gallego, Hilderbran, Solis H.B. No. 2976
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2976:
By: Griggs C.S.H.B. No. 2976
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the promotion of and funding for heritage tourism and
economic development near the Texas-Mexico border.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 481, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter M to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER M. BORDERLANDS HERITAGE TOURISM COUNCIL
Sec. 481.181. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Council" means the Borderlands Heritage Tourism
Council.
(2) "Heritage tourism" means tourism primarily based
on a destination's history, landscape, trail systems, culture,
parks, or natural preserves.
(3) "Historic property" means a district, site,
building, structure, or object that is included on or meets the
criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places
or that is otherwise recognized by this state or a political
subdivision of this state as having historical, prehistorical, or
archaeological significance to the heritage of this state.
(4) "Natural or historical asset" means a locale,
collection, itinerary, vista, landscape, cultural phenomenon,
geological formation, byway, trail, waterway, or other property
that is or that might become of unique, unusual, or pronounced
interest to a resident or tourist of the area near the asset.
Sec. 481.182. ESTABLISHMENT. The department shall
establish and administer the Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council.
Sec. 481.183. COUNCIL MEMBERS. The council consists of:
(1) one representative of the governor, appointed by
the governor;
(2) one representative of the lieutenant governor,
appointed by the lieutenant governor;
(3) one representative of the secretary of state,
appointed by the secretary of state;
(4) one representative of the tourism division of the
department, appointed by the governing board of the department;
(5) one member of the public, appointed by the
governor after consultation with the speaker of the house of
representatives;
(6) one representative of the Texas Historical
Commission, appointed by the Texas Historical Commission;
(7) one representative of the Parks and Wildlife
Department, appointed by the Parks and Wildlife Commission;
(8) one representative of the Texas Department of
Transportation, appointed by the Texas Transportation Commission;
and
(9) one representative from each regional planning
commission established under Chapter 391, Local Government Code, by
a municipality or county located in the border region, appointed by
the governor after consultation with each regional planning
commission.
Sec. 481.184. COUNCIL DUTIES. The council shall:
(1) provide leadership in preserving historic
property and developing the potential for heritage tourism of the
border region through cooperative agreements with local
governments, Native American governments, and federal agencies
consistent with Executive Order 13287, as published in the March 5,
2003, Federal Register;
(2) develop cooperative agreements with agencies of
the United Mexican States, or agencies of states of the United
Mexican States that border Texas, to:
(A) advance the protection, enhancement, and
contemporary use of historic property and natural or historical
assets pertaining to the common heritage of the border region; and
(B) develop mutually beneficial tourism
development strategies;
(3) develop strategies to encourage the use of the
Internet to promote tourism in this state;
(4) designate as a borderlands heritage corridor the
counties of the Texas-Mexico border region, as that term is defined
by Section 2056.002(e), and develop itineraries and maps to guide
tourists to the Texas-Mexico border region's historic property and
natural or historical assets;
(5) assist locally based border heritage guides and
artisans cooperatives in establishing training and certification
programs for Borderlands Heritage Tourism guides and artisans;
(6) facilitate public-private partnerships to invest
in the use, reuse, and rehabilitation of historic properties or
natural or historical assets;
(7) on the recommendation of a local government,
identify specific opportunities for the preservation of natural or
historical assets and for the development of heritage tourism, in
conjunction with a state-sponsored trails system and the heritage
sites and itineraries identified by the council;
(8) develop and coordinate local public-private
partnerships to facilitate heritage tourism in the borderlands
heritage corridor identified under Subdivision (4);
(9) develop and publish a working list of existing
public and private funds available for historic property and
natural or historical asset preservation projects;
(10) study the feasibility of working with state
agencies, universities, and colleges and with private corporations
to identify cash and in-kind resources that can be offered as
matching contributions for projects overseen by the council; and
(11) provide technical assistance to local
governments in rural areas of the border region in:
(A) information technology training;
(B) Internet website construction and
management; and
(C) public relations consistent with available
funds.
Sec. 481.185. INTERFERENCE WITH PROPERTY RIGHTS
PROHIBITED. The council may not interfere with rights of owners of
private property.
Sec. 481.186. CERTAIN ACTION OR DISCLOSURE NOT REQUIRED.
This subchapter does not require or encourage a person to take any
action or disclose any information that would conflict with or
compromise national or state homeland security goals, policies,
programs, or legally sanctioned activities.
Sec. 481.187. REVENUE RESTRICTIONS. This subchapter does
not authorize the encumbrance of revenue generated by a municipal
or county hotel occupancy tax.
Sec. 481.188. MEETINGS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. Each year,
the council shall hold at least five public meetings in the border
region for local governments and local stakeholders in heritage
tourism of the border region to hear reports from the state officers
and agencies with representatives serving on the council. At each
meeting, the state officers and agencies shall reveal specific
plans and projects to be undertaken within the local governments
and receive specific recommendations from the local governments and
tourism industry representatives.
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 502.300 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.300. PRESERVE AMERICA'S BORDERLAND LICENSE
PLATES. (a) The department may issue specially designed license
plates for passenger cars and light trucks to support the
activities of the Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council.
(b) If the department issues license plates under this
section, the department shall design the license plates in
consultation with the Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council.
(c) If the department issues license plates under this
section, the department shall issue the license plates to a person
who:
(1) applies to the county tax assessor-collector of
the county in which the person resides on a form provided by the
department; and
(2) pays a fee of $50 for an original issuance of
license plates under this section or $40 for a renewal of issuance
of license plates under this section, in addition to the fee
prescribed by Section 502.161 or 502.162, and, if personalized
prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the fee
prescribed by Section 502.251.
(d) The fee for replacement of a lost, stolen, or mutilated
plate issued under this section is $35, in addition to the fee
prescribed by Section 502.184(a).
(e) Of each fee collected under this section, $8 may be used
to defray the cost of administering this section by the department.
The department shall deposit the remainder of each fee collected
under this section to the credit of an account in the state
treasury. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas
Department of Economic Development for projects overseen by the
Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council. The Texas Department of
Economic Development shall establish reporting and other
mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money is spent for purposes
for which it is dedicated.
(f) If the owner of a vehicle registered under this section
disposes of the vehicle during the registration year, the owner
shall return the special license plates to the department.
SECTION 3. The Texas Department of Transportation shall
work with federal and local authorities that have an interest in
port of entry issues to develop recommendations for the legislature
to assert the state's interest in historical and traditional border
crossings, so that the crossings may be preserved and may provide a
regulated link for the movement of people between the communities
on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. The Texas Department of
Transportation shall deliver these recommendations to the
legislature not later than December 1, 2004.
SECTION 4. The Texas Department of Economic Development
shall establish the Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council under
Subchapter M, Chapter 481, Government Code, as added by this Act, on
or before September 1, 2003.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.