BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 58

By: Zaffirini

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

From 1950 to 1953, the United States contributed the largest contingent of troops to the United Nations forces in Korea to take a stand against what was deemed a threat to democratic nations worldwide. At the war's end, nearly 1.5 million American veterans returned to a peacetime world of families, homes, and jobs and to a country reluctant to view the Korean War as a struggle worthy of memorializing. But to the men and women who served, the Korean War could never be a forgotten war. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the United States suffered almost 34,000 battle deaths and more than 20,500 non-battle deaths during the war. These numbers demonstrate the morbid reality faced on and off the battlefield every day by the men and women who served. S.B. 58 designates segments of State Highway 359, State Highway 16, and State Highway 285 in South Texas as the Veterans of the Korean War Memorial Highway to commemorate their bravery and sacrifice. Four signs with the designated name would be placed at the following points, in the following cities: on leaving Laredo, on entering Bruni, on entering Hebbronville, and on entering Falfurrias. The designation will honor the living servicemen, the families who lost their loved ones, and the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for the cause of liberty.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking

ANALYSIS

S.B. 58 amends the Transportation Code to designate collectively the following highways as the Veterans of the Korean War Memorial Highway: State Highway 359 between U.S. Highway 83 and State Highway 16, State Highway 16 between State Highway 359 and State Highway 285, and State Highway 285 between State Highway 16 and the eastern boundary of the city of Falfurrias. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation, subject to a grant or donation of funds, to design and construct memorial markers indicating the highway number, the designation as the Veterans of the Korean War 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.