BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 442

By: Muņoz, Jr.

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Eduardo Chavez was killed in the line of duty in May 2006, having suffered fatal injuries in a traffic accident that occurred on U.S. Highway 83, also known as the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway, as he drove his patrol vehicle to assist his fellow trooper and brother with a felony narcotics stop. Records note that Trooper Chavez was an Edinburg native from a law enforcement family, was a three-year veteran of the Department of Public Safety who previously had worked as a sheriff's deputy in Hidalgo County, and is survived by his wife of five years, Iliana. 

 

Law enforcement officers who fall in the line of duty deserve recognition for their service, and a highway memorial allows Texans to acknowledge and pay respect to selfless individuals such as Trooper Chavez who put their lives at risk and sometimes pay the ultimate price to keep us safe. The goal of C.S.H.B. 442 is to commemorate the life and service of Trooper Eduardo Chavez.

 

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. 442 amends the Transportation Code to require the portion of U.S. Highway 83 in Starr County from the eastern boundary of that county to Farm-to-Market Road 2360 or the most appropriate point west of Farm-to-Market Road 2360, as determined by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to serve as a memorial to Trooper Eduardo Chavez. The bill requires TxDOT, subject to a grant or donation of funds, to design and construct markers indicating that such portion of U.S. Highway 83 is a memorial to Trooper Eduardo Chavez 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

 

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.

 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 442 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantive differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

 

INTRODUCED

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 225, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 225.091 to read as follows:

Sec. 225.091.  TROOPER EDUARDO CHAVEZ MEMORIAL HIGHWAY.  (a)  The portion of U.S. Highway 83 in Starr County from the eastern boundary of Starr County to Farm-to-Market Road 2360 is designated as the Trooper Eduardo Chavez Memorial Highway.

 

 

(b)  Subject to Section 225.021(c), the department shall:

(1)  design and construct markers indicating the highway number, the designation as the Trooper Eduardo Chavez Memorial Highway, and any other appropriate information; and

(2)  erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 225, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 225.091 to read as follows:

Sec. 225.091.  TROOPER EDUARDO CHAVEZ MEMORIAL HIGHWAY.  (a)  The portion of U.S. Highway 83 in Starr County from the eastern boundary of Starr County to Farm-to-Market Road 2360 or the most appropriate point west of Farm-to-Market Road 2360, as determined by the department, shall serve as a memorial to Trooper Eduardo Chavez.

(b)  Subject to Section 225.021(c), the department shall:

(1)  design and construct markers indicating that the portion of U.S. Highway 83 described in Subsection (a) is a memorial to Trooper Eduardo Chavez, and any other appropriate information; and

(2)  erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

SECTION 2.  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, 2013.

 

SECTION 2. Same as introduced version.