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By: Lucio, Shapleigh, Zaffirini S.B. No. 185
(In the Senate - Filed January 13, 2005; February 1, 2005,
read first time and referred to Committee on International
Relations and Trade; March 22, 2005, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4,
Nays 1; March 22, 2005, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 185 By: Lucio
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the border commerce
coordinator.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 772.010, Government Code, as added by
Chapters 429 and 1339, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 772.010. BORDER COMMERCE COORDINATOR. (a) The
governor shall designate a border commerce coordinator in the
governor's office or the office of the secretary of state as
determined by the governor. The coordinator shall:
(1) examine trade issues between the United States,
Mexico, and Canada;
(2) act as an ombudsman for government agencies within
the Texas and Mexico border region to help reduce regulations by
improving communication and cooperation between federal, state,
and local governments;
(3) study the flow of commerce at ports of entry
between this state and Mexico, including the movement of commercial
vehicles across the border,[;] and establish a plan to aid that
commerce and improve the movement of those vehicles;
(4) [(3)] work with federal officials to resolve
transportation issues involving infrastructure, including roads
and bridges, to allow for the efficient movement of goods and people
across the border between Texas and Mexico;
(5) [(4)] work with federal officials to create a
unified federal agency process to streamline border crossing needs;
(6) [(5)] work to increase funding for the North
American Development Bank to assist in the financing of water and
wastewater facilities; and
(7) [(6)] explore the sale of excess electric power
from Texas to Mexico.
(b) The governor shall appoint a border commerce
coordinator to serve at the will of the governor in the governor's
office or in the office of the secretary of state and may select the
secretary of state as the coordinator.
(c) The coordinator shall work with local governments,
metropolitan planning organizations, and other appropriate
community organizations adjacent to the border of this state with
the United Mexican States, and with comparable entities in Mexican
states adjacent to that border, to address the unique planning and
capacity needs of those areas. The coordinator shall assist those
governments, organizations, and entities to identify and develop
initiatives to address those needs. Before January 1 of each year,
the coordinator shall submit to the presiding officer of each house
of the legislature a report of the coordinator's activities under
this subsection during the preceding year.
(d) The coordinator shall:
(1) work with private industry and appropriate
entities of Texas and the United States to require that low-sulfur
fuel be sold along highways in Texas carrying increased traffic
related to activities under the North American Free Trade
Agreement; and
(2) work with representatives of the government of
Mexico and the governments of those Mexican states bordering Texas
to increase the use of low-sulfur fuel.
SECTION 2. Chapter 772, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 772.0101, 772.0102, and 772.0103 to read as
follows:
Sec. 772.0101. BORDER INSPECTION, TRADE, AND
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The border commerce
coordinator shall establish and appoint the members of the Border
Inspection, Trade, and Transportation Advisory Committee. The
members must include representatives of the Texas Department of
Transportation, the Department of Public Safety of the State of
Texas, the Office of State-Federal Relations, the United States
Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, and other representatives of state and federal
agencies involved in border crossing issues. Chapter 2110 does not
apply to the size, composition, or duration of the Border
Inspection, Trade, and Transportation Advisory Committee.
(b) The coordinator shall work with the advisory committee
to:
(1) identify problems involved with border truck
inspections and related trade and transportation infrastructure;
and
(2) develop recommendations for addressing those
problems.
(c) The coordinator shall work with the advisory committee
and appropriate agencies of Texas, the United States, and Mexico to
develop initiatives to mitigate congestion at ports of entry at the
Mexican border by conducting in Mexico inspections of trucks
entering Texas. In developing the initiatives, the coordinator
shall give consideration to similar initiatives proposed or
implemented at the border of the United States and Canada.
(d) The coordinator shall report quarterly to the presiding
officer of each house of the legislature on the findings and
recommendations of the advisory committee.
Sec. 772.0102. TRADE AND COMMERCE PLAN. (a) The border
commerce coordinator shall develop, in conjunction with
representatives of chambers of commerce, metropolitan planning
organizations adjacent to the United Mexican States, and private
industry groups, a comprehensive trade and commerce plan for the
region designed to:
(1) increase trade by attracting new business
ventures;
(2) support expansion of existing industries; and
(3) address workforce training needs.
(b) The plan must cover five-year, 10-year, and 15-year
periods.
(c) The coordinator shall work with industries and
communities on both sides of the border to develop international
industry cluster initiatives to capitalize on resources available
in communities located adjacent to each other across the border.
(d) The coordinator shall conduct annual conferences of
interested persons, working with chambers of commerce and
universities of this state along the Texas and Mexico border
region, and shall host those conferences at no cost to the
coordinator. The purposes of the conferences are to:
(1) make the trade and commerce plan public;
(2) report on updated findings and progress of
implementation of the plan; and
(3) develop new international industry cluster
initiatives.
Sec. 772.0103. FUNDING. The border commerce coordinator is
entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in
performing the coordinator's duties under this chapter to the same
extent provided by the General Appropriations Act in the budget of
the secretary of state for a border affairs coordinator.
SECTION 3. 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, 2005.
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