78R6159 JRJ-F

By:  Duncan                                                       S.B. No. 960



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the issuance of cotton boll license plates to benefit  
the scholarship program of Texas Cotton Producers, Inc.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code, 
is amended by adding Section 502.2762 to read as follows:
	Sec. 502.2762.  COTTON BOLL LICENSE PLATES.  (a)  The 
department shall issue specially designed cotton boll license 
plates for the following vehicles:
		(1)  farm vehicles, including farm tractors, farm 
trailers, and farm semitrailers;
		(2)  passenger cars and light trucks; and                              
		(3)  truck-tractors, semitrailers, and other 
commercial motor vehicles.
	(b)  The license plates must depict a graphic image of a 
cotton boll and be designed by the department in consultation with 
Texas Cotton Producers, Inc.
	(c)  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 an annual fee of $30, in addition to the fee 
prescribed by Section 502.161, 502.162, 502.163, or 502.166 and, if 
personalized prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the 
fee prescribed by Section 502.251.
	(d)  Of each fee collected under this section:                          
		(1)  $22 shall be deposited to the credit of the general 
revenue fund and used only by the Texas Higher Education 
Coordinating Board in making grants to benefit Texas Cotton 
Producers, Inc., for the sole purpose of providing scholarships to 
students who are pursuing a degree in an agricultural field related 
to the cotton industry while enrolled in an institution of higher 
education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; and
		(2)  $8 shall be deposited to the credit of the state 
highway fund to defray the cost of administering this section.
	(e)  If license plates issued under this section are lost, 
stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the license 
plates were issued may obtain replacement plates from the 
department by paying a replacement fee of $5.  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 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.