BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1061

By: Van de Putte

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties assert that it is our duty as a nation to properly care for those who volunteer to protect us, and providing such care includes making amenities for veterans with limited physical mobility. Disabled veterans who meet specified requirements, such as displaying a specialized license plate, are allowed to park in spaces designated for persons with physical disabilities. S.B. 1061 seeks to clarify that institutions of higher education must also allow access to those designated parking spaces for eligible vehicles, regardless of the institution's parking permit requirements.

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

S.B. 1061 amends the Transportation Code to establish that a vehicle operated by or for the transportation of certain veterans that is otherwise authorized under statute to be parked for an unlimited period in a parking space or area designated specifically for persons with physical disabilities is also authorized to be parked for an unlimited period in a parking space or area that is designated specifically for persons with physical disabilities on the property of an institution of higher education, regardless of whether a permit is generally required for the use of the space or area. The bill authorizes an institution of higher education to require such a vehicle to display a parking permit issued by the institution specifically for the purpose of implementing the bill's provisions, but prohibits the institution from charging a fee for that permit. The bill does not entitle a person to park such a vehicle in a parking space or area that has not been designated specifically for persons with physical disabilities on the property of the institution if the vehicle has not been granted or assigned a parking permit required by the institution.

S.B. 1061 excludes from its provisions a parking space or area located in a controlled access parking facility if at least 50 percent of the number of parking spaces or areas designated specifically for persons with physical disabilities on the property of the institution of higher education are located outside a controlled access parking facilities; an area temporarily designated for special event parking; or an area where parking is temporarily prohibited for health or safety concerns.

EFFECTIVE DATE

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