BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1921

By: Pickett

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Provisions governing the composition of the board of directors of a regional mobility authority (RMA) set out the initial appointments to the board of directors of an RMA by the commissioners court of each county that forms the authority, subsequent appointments to the board by a county that is added to the authority, and the appointment of the presiding officer of the board by the governor.

C.S.H.B. 1921 seeks to provide that if the board of directors of an RMA created by a municipality consists of the members of the governing body of the municipality, the presiding officers of the governing body of the municipality that creates the RMA are the presiding officers of the RMA board. 

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

C.S.H.B. 1921 amends the Transportation Code to set out provisions relating to the board of directors of regional mobility authorities that apply only to an authority created by a municipality.  The bill authorizes the governing board of a municipality by order to establish the governing body as the board of directors of an authority.  The bill establishes that the presiding officers of the governing body are the presiding officers of the board if the board of directors of the authority consists of the members of the governing body of the municipality.  The bill establishes that each director has equal status and is authorized to vote and that the vote of a majority attending a board meeting is necessary for any action taken by the board.  The bill establishes that the majority of directors serving on the board is a quorum if a vacancy exists on the board.  The bill requires the governing body of a municipality that becomes the board of an existing authority by resolution to provide for the transfer process that establishes the governing body as the board of the authority.  The bill makes certain provisions of law relating to the governance of authorities in general inapplicable to the board of an authority created by a municipality if the board consists of the members of the governing board of the municipality.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1921 omits provisions included in the original making provisions relating to a board of directors of a regional mobility authority in general inapplicable to an authority created by a municipality or to that authority's governing body.

C.S.H.B. 1921 contains a provision not included in the original authorizing the governing body of a municipality by order to establish the governing body as the board of directors of an authority.

C.S.H.B. 1921 differs from the original by providing that the presiding officers of the governing body of a municipality are the presiding officers of the board of directors of a regional mobility authority if that board of directors is created by the municipality and consists of the members of the governing body of the municipality, whereas the original provides that the board of directors of an authority created by a municipality consists of the members of the governing body of the municipality and that the presiding officers of the governing body of the municipality that creates the authority are the presiding officers of the board.

C.S.H.B. 1921, in a provision listing provisions that are inapplicable to a board of directors, differs from the original by conditioning that inapplicability on the board of directors of an authority having been created by a municipality and consisting of the members of the governing body of the municipality, whereas the original provides that the listed provisions are inapplicable to a board under a certain provision of the bill.

C.S.H.B. 1921 differs from the original in nonsubstantive ways by conforming to certain bill drafting conventions and making clarifying changes.