BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3800

By: Frost

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

On April 29, 2008, the people of Cass and Marion Counties were stunned by the untimely death of Department of Public Safety Trooper Scott Burns.  Trooper Burns, a native of the area, was stationed in Jefferson, Texas, when he was shot by the criminal he was pursuing.

The community has come to terms with the loss of Trooper Burns, supporting his widow and baby daughter through financial assistance.  However, citizens in the area seek public recognition of the contributions of Trooper Burns to the safety and well-being of the community.  Since Trooper Burns spent much of his time patrolling the roads and highways of the area, the community felt a portion of local U.S. Highway 59 should be designated as the Trooper Scott Burns Memorial Highway.  The proposed segment runs from Linden, where Trooper Burns lived with his young family, to Jefferson where he was stationed at the time of his death.

Within four weeks of announcing the memorial highway project, citizens throughout northeast Texas raised the funds required by the Texas Department of Transportation to place a marker at each end of the 15-mile segment.

H.B. 3800 designates the 15-mile segment of U.S. Highway 59 between Linden, Texas and Jefferson, Texas as the Trooper Scott Burns Memorial Highway.

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

H.B. 3800 amends the Transportation Code to designate U.S. Highway 59 between the northern corporate limits of the City of Jefferson and the southern corporate limits of the City of Linden as the Trooper Scott Burns Memorial Highway.  The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation to design and construct markers indicating the highway number, the designation as the Trooper Scott Burns Memorial Highway, and any other appropriate information, and to erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway. The bill makes these requirements subject to a grant or donation of funds to the department to cover the costs.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.