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By: Chavez H.B. No. 2976
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing cooperative agreements between local,
state, and federal governments and the United Mexican States to
promote economic development and heritage tourism near the Rio
Grande.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Chapter 481, Subchapter L, Section
481.172, Government Code is amended by adding subdivision (9) to
read as follows:
(9) establish and oversee the duties of the
Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council as defined in Subchapter M.
SECTION 2. Subtitle F, Chapter 481, Government Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter M to read as follows:
Subchapter M. Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council
481.500. Definitions In this section:
(a) "historic property" means any prehistoric or historic
district, site, building, structure or object that is included on
or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic
Places and/or otherwise recognized by the State of Texas or local
jurisdiction within the state as being of historic or archeological
significance to the heritage of the State of Texas.
(b) "natural or historical asset" means properties,
locales, collections, itineraries, vistas, landscapes, cultural
phenomena, geological formations, byways, trails, waterways,
rivers and streams that or, or might become, of unique, unusual or
pronounced interest to residents and visiting travelers and
tourists.
(c) "heritage tourism" means the business and practice of
attracting and accommodating visitors to a place or area based
especially upon the unique or special aspects of that locale's
history, landscape, trail systems, culture, parks and natural
preserves.
481.501. Duties The Council shall:
1) Provide leadership in preserving historic
properties and developing the heritage tourism potentials of the
border region as defined by Sec. 481.001, Government Code, through
cooperative agreements with local jurisdictions, Native American
governments, and agencies of the United States federal government
consistent with Executive Order 13287, signed by President George
W. Bush on March 3, 2003.
2) Develop cooperative agreements with agencies of the
United Mexican States sharing the international boundary with Texas
for the purpose of advancing the protection, enhancement and
contemporary use of historic sites and natural assets pertaining to
the common heritage of the border region, as well as develop
mutually beneficial tourism development strategies.
3) Develop strategies designed to promote the use of
the internet in tourism promotion strategies by the State of Texas.
4) Designate a "Borderlands Heritage Corridor"
composed of the counties that make up the Texas-Mexico border as
defined by and Chapter 2056, Section 2056.002 (e)(3), and develop
itineraries and maps to guide tourists to the border region's
historic and nature sites.
5) Establish a training and licensing program for
Border Heritage Guides and Artisans to be administered by locally
based Heritage Guides and Artisans Cooperatives.
6) Coordinate public-private partnerships that invest
in the use, reuse and rehabilitation of historic properties or
assets of significant natural interest.
7) Identify specific opportunities for asset
preservation and heritage tourism development in conjunction with a
state sponsored trails system and the heritage sites and
itineraries identified by the Borderlands Heritage Tourism
Council.
8) Develop and coordinate local public-private
partnerships to facilitate heritage tourism in the Borderlands
Heritage Corridor.
9) Develop and publish a working list of existing
public and private funds available for nature and historical site
preservation projects.
10) Study the feasibility of working with state
agencies, universities, colleges and with private corporations to
identify cash and in-kind resources that can be offered as matching
contributories for projects overseen by the Borderlands Heritage
Tourism Council.
481.502. Selection of the Borderlands Heritage Tourism
Council. (a) The Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council shall
consist of:
(1) one representative of the Governor, appointed by
the Governor.
(2) one representative of the Lt. Governor, appointed
by the Lt. Governor.
(3) one representative of the Secretary of State,
appointed by the Secretary of State;
(4) one representative of the Tourism Division of
Texas Economic Development;
(5) one representative from the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives;
(6) one representative of the Texas Historical
Commission, appointed by the commissioner of the Texas Historical
Commission;
(7) one representative of Texas Parks and Wildlife;
(8) one representative of the Texas Department of
Transportation; and
(9) one representative from each Council of Government
as defined by Chapter 391, Sec. 391.003, Local Government Code,
with member jurisdictions within the border region appointed by
each Council of Government.
Section 481.503. Restrictions. (a) No actions of the
Borderlands Heritage Tourism Council shall interfere with rights of
owners of private property.
(b) Nothing in this bill shall be construed to require or
encourage any agency or any other party to take any action or
disclose any information that would conflict with or compromise
national and state homeland security goals, policies, programs or
legally sanctioned activities.
SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 502.304 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.304. Preserve America's Borderland License Plates
(a) The department shall issue specially designed license plates
for passenger cars and light trucks to support the activities of the
Border Heritage Tourism Council.
(b) The department shall issue license plates under this
section to a person who:
(1) applies to the county 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.
(c) 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).
(d) Of each fee collected under this section, $5 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 this account may be used only by the Texas
Department 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.
(e) 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 4. Title 7, Government Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 793 to read as follows:
(a) Working with the appropriate federal and local
jurisdictions with an interest in port of entry issues, the Texas
Department of Transportation shall develop recommendations for the
79th Legislature to assert the state's interest in historical and
traditional border crossings so the crossing may be preserved and
may provide a regulated link for movement of people between
communities on both sides of the border.
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.