BILL ANALYSIS
By: Bonnen
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Ports are a huge engine of economic growth. Texas ports handle 317 million metric tons of cargo annually, about 17% of the total U.S. port tonnage. Ports employ over one million people and generate over $30 billion in personal income for Texans. They bring in almost $5 billion in state and local tax revenue. For ports in Texas to be able to continue to provide these benefits and plan for the future they must have stable and fixed boundaries.
The purpose of C.S.H.B. 1312 is to require smaller municipalities to receive permission of a port before they can annex the port's land.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Requires a municipality with a population of less than 30,000 that borders the Gulf of Mexico and seeks to annex land owned by a navigation district to have the consent of the district to annex the land.
SECTION 2. Effective Date.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
SECTION 1. The provisions of both H.B. 1312 and C.S.H.B. 1312 are the same, except that H.B. 1312 is applicable to a municipality with a population of less than 50,000, while C.S.H.B. 1312 applies to a municipality with a population of less than 30,000 that borders the Gulf of Mexico.
SECTION 2. No change between H.B. 1312 and C.S.H.B. 1312.