BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 314

By: Hardcastle

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Corporal David Slaton of the Texas Department of Public Safety was killed in the line of duty on September 20, 2010, in Montague County. The trooper was a popular figure in the area known for his good humor and jovial personality. As a show of respect, the Montague County Commissioners Court requested, and the Texas Department of Transportation subsequently approved, the naming of a section of U.S. Highway 81 in honor of Trooper Slaton. H.B. 314 amends the Transportation Code to designate the Corporal David Slaton 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. 314 amends the Transportation Code to designate the portion of U.S. Highway 81 from the Texas-Oklahoma border to the northern municipal boundary of Bowie as the Corporal David Slaton Memorial Highway. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation, subject to a grant or donation of funds, to design and construct markers indicating the highway number, the designation as the Corporal David Slaton 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 specifies that a reference to the municipal boundary of Bowie means that boundary as it exists on September 1, 2011.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.