By:  Hilderbran                                                   H.B. No. 3438



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the persons buried in the state cemetery.                         
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 2165.256, Government Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
	(d)  Persons eligible for burial in the State Cemetery are:                    
		(1)  a former member of the legislature or a member who 
dies in office;     
		(2)  a former elective state official or an elective 
state official who dies in office;
		(3)  a former state official or a state official who 
dies in office who has been appointed by the governor and confirmed 
by the senate and who served at least 12 years in the office to which 
appointed;
		(4)  a person specified by a governor's proclamation, 
subject to review and approval by the committee under Subsection 
(e);
		(5)  a person specified by a concurrent resolution 
adopted by the legislature and signed by the governor, subject to 
review and approval by the committee under Subsection (e); and
		(6)  a person specified by order of the committee under 
Subsection (e).     
	(e)  The committee shall review proclamations under 
Subsection (d)(4) and resolutions under Subsection (d)(5).  A 
person specified in a proclamation or resolution is eligible for 
burial in the State Cemetery only if the committee, following its 
review, finds that the person specified made a significant 
contribution to Texas history and only if, based on that finding, 
the committee approves the person's burial in the cemetery.  The 
committee may by order authorize a burial under Subsection (d)(6) 
only if the committee finds that the person made a significant 
contribution to Texas history.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.