2003S0499-1 03/05/03
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1025
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the funding of port security, transportation, and
facility projects, including port studies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 55, Transportation Code,
is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 55. TEXAS PORT SECURITY, TRANSPORTATION, AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FUNDING
SECTION 2. Subdivision (2), Section 55.001, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Transportation [Economic Development].
SECTION 3. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 55.002,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Using only money in the fund, the department shall fund:
(1) port security projects;
(2) port transportation or facility projects; or
(3) [(2)] port studies.
(b) The department may not fund a port security,
transportation, or facility project unless an amount at least equal
to the amount provided by the department is invested in a project by
a port authority or navigation district.
SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 55.005, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The following money shall be credited to the fund:
(1) money appropriated by the legislature for the
implementation of this chapter;
(2) money received from gifts, grants, and donations;
and
(3) [(2)] interest earned on deposits and investments
of the fund.
SECTION 5. Section 55.006, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 55.006. TEXAS PORT TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The Texas Port
Transportation and Economic Development Advisory Committee
consists of:
(1) one [a] member of the governing body of each of
nine of the corporate member [the] ports [that are members] of the
Texas Ports Association, under the rotation system of membership
provided by Subsection (b) [or their designees]; and
(2) as a nonvoting member, the executive director or
the designee of the department.
(b) Four of the nine voting committee positions will
automatically change on January 1 of each year under an
alphabetically based rotation system. Initially, the first nine
Texas Ports Association ports in alphabetical order, beginning with
Beaumont, will have positions on the committee. On January 1, 2005,
and each January 1 thereafter, the next four ports in alphabetical
order will rotate onto the committee and the four ports earliest in
order of rotation then represented on the committee will rotate
off.
(c) The committee shall develop bylaws under which it
operates. The bylaws must specify the procedure by which the
presiding officer of the committee is elected. A majority of voting
members constitutes a quorum sufficient to conduct meetings and
business of the committee. A vote of the majority of the voting
members present is sufficient for any action of the committee,
unless the bylaws of the committee require a greater vote for a
particular action.
(d) [(c)] The committee shall meet at the call of its
presiding officer, at the request of a majority of its membership,
or at times prescribed in its bylaws. The committee must meet at
least semiannually.
(e) [(d)] A member is not entitled to compensation for
service on the committee but is entitled to reimbursement for
reasonable expenses the member incurs in performing committee
duties.
(f) [(e)] Sections 2110.002 and 2110.008, Government Code,
do not apply to the committee.
SECTION 6. Section 55.007, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 55.007. DUTIES OF COMMITTEE. The committee shall:
(1) prepare a port mission plan;
(2) review each project eligible to be funded under
this chapter and make recommendations for approval or disapproval
to the department;
(3) maintain trade data information that will assist
ports in this state and international trade;
(4) annually prepare a list of projects that have been
recommended by the committee, including:
(A) the recommended funding level for each
project; and
(B) if staged implementation of the project is
appropriate, the funding requirements for each stage; and
(5) adopt rules for evaluating projects that may be
funded under this chapter, providing criteria for the evaluation of
the economic benefit of the project, measured by the potential for
the proposed project to increase:
(A) port security;
(B) cargo flow;
(C) [(B)] cruise passenger movement;
(D) [(C)] international commerce;
(E) [(D)] port revenues; and
(F) [(E)] the number of jobs for the port's local
community.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 55.008, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The committee shall prepare a two-year port capital
program defining the goals and objectives of the committee
concerning the development of port facilities and an intermodal
transportation system. The port capital program must include
projects or studies submitted by each port that is a member of the
committee and recommendations for:
(1) the construction of transportation facilities
connecting any port to another transportation mode; and
(2) the efficient, cost-effective development of
transportation facilities or port facilities for the purpose of:
(A) improving port security;
(B) enhancing international trade;
(C) [(B)] promoting cargo flow;
(D) [(C)] increasing cruise passenger movements;
(E) [(D)] increasing port revenues; and
(F) [(E)] providing economic benefits to the
state.
SECTION 8. (a) The five voting positions on the Texas Port
Transportation and Economic Development Advisory Committee not
included in the initial formation of the committee as reorganized
under Section 55.006, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act,
are abolished on September 1, 2003.
(b) Before January 1, 2004, the Texas Department of
Transportation shall convene the initial meeting of the Texas Port
Transportation and Economic Development Advisory Committee, as
reorganized under Section 55.006, Transportation Code, as amended
by this Act.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.