By: Hilderbran, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Estes) H.B. No. 12

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2007; May 15, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 21, 2007, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 21, 2007, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 12 By: Ogden

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the funding, powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. (a) The legislative task force on the use of the sales tax on sporting goods is composed of eight members, as follows:

(1) two members of the House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(2) two members of the House Appropriations Committee, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(3) two members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, appointed by the lieutenant governor; and

(4) two members of the Senate Committee on Finance, appointed by the lieutenant governor.

(b) The speaker of the house of representatives shall designate one member of the task force to serve as a joint presiding officer of the task force, and the lieutenant governor shall designate another task force member to serve as the other joint presiding officer.

(c) The task force meets at the call of a joint presiding officer.

(d) The task force shall:

(1) review the items that are included in the definition of "sporting goods" under Section 151.801(e), Tax Code, and determine if there is a correlation between each individual item included and activities related to state parks, including the use of those parks; and

(2) determine the amount of revenue that must be generated to fund the policy decisions made by the 80th Legislature regarding state parks.

(e) Not later than January 15, 2009, the task force shall prepare and present to the 81st Legislature a report that describes the findings of the task force and includes recommendations regarding the specific items that should be included in the definition of "sporting goods" under Section 151.801(e), Tax Code.

(f) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no funds allocated pursuant to Tax Code Section 151.801(c), not previously dedicated by a previous legislature, may be dedicated to a specific purpose or account until the task force review is completed and its recommendations are delivered to each member of legislature.

(g) This section expires March 1, 2009.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 442, Government Code, is amended by adding Sections 442.0051, 442.0052, and 442.0053 to read as follows:

Sec. 442.0051. FEES. The commission by rule may establish reasonable fees for commission purposes under this chapter, including an admission fee appropriate to a historic site under its jurisdiction.

Sec. 442.0052. VOLUNTEER SERVICES. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the commission may use the services of volunteers to help carry out the duties and responsibilities of the commission.

(b) A volunteer may not enforce this code.

Sec. 442.0053. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION OF REAL PROPERTY IN STATE HISTORIC SITES SYSTEM. (a) The commission by rule shall adopt criteria for determining the eligibility of real property donated to the commission for inclusion in the historic sites system.

(b) The commission may accept a donation of real property that satisfies the criteria adopted under Subsection (a).

(c) The commission may renovate or restore donated real property, including improvements to the property, or construct improvements on the donated real property as necessary and prudent.

SECTION 3. The Historical Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department shall assist in a joint interim study of the need for and the terms and conditions of any transfer of certain state historic sites by the legislative audit committee and the legislative committees of each house with jurisdiction over the Historical Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department and submission of that report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the members of the Legislature, and the members of the governing boards and the executive directors of the commission and the department by January 1, 2009. At a minimum, the study shall include a public hearing component that includes one or more hearings at or near affected historical sites. In addition, the Historical Commission shall develop a base operating plan for each historic site proposed for transfer to the commission. The base operating plan for each site shall be completed by the commission on or before September 1, 2008. The base operating plan for each site shall include:

(1) a mission statement outlining the goals for the site;

(2) an interpretive plan showing how the mission is to be accomplished;

(3) an operational plan, including:

(A) facilities, documents, records, and other assets to be transferred;

(B) parties responsible for daily site management, including staff that will be transferred;

(C) off-site support structure;

(D) plans for artifact and archival curation;

(E) signed memoranda of understanding or memoranda of agreement with appropriate friends groups and volunteer organizations: and

(F) emergency plans;

(4) a maintenance plan, including maintenance and repair needs;

(5) a marketing plan;

(6) a business plan, including revenue and visitation goals;

(7) a plan for compliance with:

(A) Chapter 191, Natural Resources Code (the Antiquities Code of Texas); and

(B) the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. Section 470 et seq.); and

(8) fiscal plans and budgets associated with Subdivisions (1) through (7) of this subsection.

SECTION 4. Chapter 11, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Subchapter K to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER K. MANAGEMENT AND EFFICIENCY REVIEWS

Sec. 11.251. MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT REVIEW SYSTEM. (a) In this section:

(1) "Maintenance equipment" means personal property owned by the department that is used to administer, operate, preserve, repair, expand, or otherwise maintain real property, including improvements and fixtures, owned or operated by the department.

(2) "Outdated equipment" means equipment:

(A) that has a fair market value that is less than the annual cost of maintaining the equipment in working order;

(B) that is not operational and cannot reasonably be made operational; or

(C) that no longer serves a department purpose.

(b) The commission by rule shall establish an equipment review system through which the department annually determines whether any of the department's maintenance equipment has become outdated equipment since the last date the department conducted an equipment review under this section.

(c) The equipment review system established under Subsection (b) must require the department to sell any outdated equipment in the manner and at the time specified by the commission by rule.

(d) The department shall deposit proceeds from the sale of equipment under this section to the credit of the appropriate parks and wildlife account.

Sec. 11.252. MAINTENANCE PROVIDER REVIEW SYSTEM. (a) In this section, "maintenance" includes the administration, operation, preservation, repair, and expansion of personal property owned by the department and real property owned or operated by the department.

(b) The commission by rule shall establish a maintenance provider review system through which the department annually determines whether a maintenance task performed by the department could be performed by a third-party contractor in a manner that:

(1) is more cost-effective than the department's manner of performing the maintenance task; and

(2) yields a result that is equal to or greater than the quality of the result produced by the department performing the task.

(c) The maintenance provider review system established under Subsection (b) must require the department to contract with a third party for the performance of any maintenance task performed by the department that could be performed by a third-party contractor in the manner that meets the criteria described by Subsection (b) after the department's cost of administering the contract is added to the cost of performance by the third party.

Sec. 11.253. MANAGEMENT PLAN AND PRIORITIES LIST. Not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year the department shall submit to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the lieutenant governor, and the chair of each house and senate standing committee having jurisdiction over a matter regulated by the department under this code a management plan to address the department's maintenance responsibilities under this subchapter and a priorities list that includes the following information:

(1) a prioritized list of facilities operated by the department that are most in need of repair, renovation, expansion, or other maintenance;

(2) an itemized list explaining any additional funding requested by the department to accomplish a task described by Subdivision (1); and

(3) the results of the reviews conducted under Sections 11.251, 11.252, and 13.019(b).

SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 13.0044 to read as follows:

Sec. 13.0044. PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN PARK PROGRAMS. In selecting parks for capital improvements, the department may give a preference to programs in which the department matches locally raised money on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

SECTION 6. Section 13.0061(a), Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The department may lease grazing rights on any state park or any area of a state park. The department may harvest and sell, or sell in place, any timber, hay, livestock, or other product grown on state park land the department finds to be in excess of natural resource management, educational, or interpretive objectives [programming needs]. Timber may be harvested only for forest pest management, salvage, or habitat restoration and under good forestry practices with the advice of the Texas Forest Service.

SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 13.0075 to read as follows:

Sec. 13.0075. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION OF REAL PROPERTY IN STATE PARKS SYSTEM. (a) The commission by rule shall adopt criteria for determining the eligibility of real property that is donated to the department for inclusion in the state parks system.

(b) The department may accept a donation of real property that satisfies the criteria adopted under Subsection (a).

(c) The department may renovate or restore donated real property, including improvements to the property, or construct improvements on the donated real property as necessary and prudent.

SECTION 8. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 13.0145 to read as follows:

Sec. 13.0145. SPEED LIMITS. (a) The department shall set and enforce speed limits on a road in a state park, wildlife management area, or other site under the control of the department as follows:

(1) 30 miles per hour on a park road or main drive;

(2) 20 miles per hour on a secondary road; or

(3) as posted by the department.

(b) The department shall:

(1) consult with the Texas Department of Transportation to determine if a speed limit under Subsection (a) is reasonable and safe based on an engineering and traffic control study; and

(2) amend the limit, if necessary.

SECTION 9. Section 13.015, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (a-1), (b-1), (b-2), and (b-3) to read as follows:

(a-1) The department may promote visits and enhance revenue at parks, including amounts necessary for salaries, advertising, consumable supplies and materials, promotional products, fees, and related expenses.

(b) The department may operate or grant contracts to operate concessions in state parks or on causeways, beach drives, or other improvements in connection with state park sites. The department may make regulations governing the granting or operating of concessions. The department may establish and operate staff concessions, including salaries, consumable supplies and materials, operating expenses, rental and other equipment, and other capital outlays.

(b-1) The department may purchase products, including food items, for resale or rental at a profit.

(b-2) The department shall operate any resale concession program using standard business practice models to generate revenue and provide quality customer service while adhering to conservation principles.

(b-3) The department may recruit and select private service providers to enter into leased concession contracts with the department to provide necessary and appropriate visitor services.

SECTION 10. Section 13.016, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 13.016. INMATE [PRISON] LABOR. (a) The department may use the labor of an inmate confined in a state, county, or local correctional facility [trusty state convicts] on or in connection with state parks, wildlife management areas, or other property under the control or jurisdiction of the department.

(b) Inmates [Convicts] working in connection with lands under the control or jurisdiction of the department remain under the control of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or county or local correctional facility, as appropriate, and are considered as serving their terms in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or other correctional facility [penitentiary].

(c) The department may purchase equipment, meals, supplies, and materials for an inmate working at a department site as necessary to facilitate the use of the labor described by this section.

(d) The department may not use the labor of an inmate convicted of an offense listed in Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure.

(e) The department may not use the labor of an inmate convicted of any violent offense.

SECTION 11. Section 13.019, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 13.019. FACILITY RESERVATION SYSTEM AND FEE. (a) The department may permit the advance reservation of a facility, lodging, or campsite at a state park and require the payment of a fee by a person making the reservation.

(b) The department shall annually:

(1) evaluate whether the reservation system used by the department for the advance reservation of facilities, lodging, and campsites is as user-friendly as possible; and

(2) make modifications to the system as necessary to enhance the user-friendliness of the reservation system.

SECTION 12. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 13.0191 to read as follows:

Sec. 13.0191. FACILITY AND LODGING FEES. A fee charged by the department under this subchapter for the use of a facility or lodging at a state park may vary on a seasonal basis and may be set in an amount to recover the direct and indirect costs of providing the facility or lodging and provide a reasonable rate of return to the department. Items to be considered in setting a fee include the cost required to provide, maintain, and improve amenities available at the site and seasonal variables such as the cost of staffing to meet demand and costs of heating or air conditioning.

SECTION 13. The Parks and Wildlife Department shall comply with the recommendations contained in the State Auditor's Office "An Audit Report on Financial Processes at the Parks and Wildlife Department Report No. 07-021" in accordance with the dates specified in the department's management response included as Appendix 6 to the report and contingent on receiving an appropriation sufficient to fund the implementation of the recommendations.

SECTION 14. The name of the Peach Point Wildlife Management Area is changed to the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area.

SECTION 15. 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, 2007.

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