BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 2861 |
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By: Raymond |
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Transportation |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Observers note that differences in weight limit regulations for trucks between Texas and the United Mexican States are requiring some companies operating along the border to unload their shipments before crossing the border and to divide shipments into multiple trucks before driving on international bridges, which interested parties regard as a highly inefficient process that could be avoided by the designation of an overweight truck corridor along parts of the Texas-Mexico border. According to interested parties, production and shipping companies, the cities in which the companies are located, and economic development corporations support the designation of such an overweight vehicle corridor to eliminate those unnecessary stops and promote efficiency. C.S.H.B. 2861 seeks to remedy this situation.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Transportation Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2861 amends the Transportation Code to establish an optional procedure for the issuance of a permit by the City of Laredo for the movement of oversize or overweight vehicles carrying cargo on certain roadways located in Webb County. The bill authorizes the Texas Transportation Commission to authorize the City of Laredo to issue permits for the movement of oversize or overweight vehicles carrying cargo in Webb County on the roadways specifically identified in the bill. The bill authorizes the City of Laredo, in addition to those identified roadways, to designate and issue permits for the movement of oversize or overweight vehicles carrying cargo in Webb County on roadways under the city's jurisdiction and control.
C.S.H.B. 2861 authorizes the City of Laredo to collect a fee for the permits and caps the fee at $200 per trip. The bill authorizes the city, on September 1 of each year and beginning September 1, 2016, to adjust the maximum fee amount as necessary to reflect the percentage change during the preceding year in the applicable federal Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers or its successor in function. The bill restricts use of the collected fees to operation and maintenance of the roadways described by or designated under the bill's provisions and for the City of Laredo's administrative costs, which the bill caps at 15 percent of the fees collected. The bill requires the distribution of the collected fees less the City of Laredo's administrative costs to be distributed between the state and the city based on lane mile calculations between on and off system roadways specified in the bill and requires lane mile calculations to be adjusted on a biannual basis. The bill requires the City of Laredo to send the state's portion of the collected fees to the comptroller of public accounts for deposit to the credit of the state highway fund and exempts those deposited fees from the application of Government Code provisions relating to use of dedicated revenue.
C.S.H.B. 2861 prescribes the required contents of the permit and requires the City of Laredo to report to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles all permits issued under the bill's provisions. The bill requires the permit to specify the time during which movement authorized by the permit is allowed. The bill prohibits movement authorized by the permit from exceeding the posted speed limit or 55 miles per hour, whichever is less, and establishes that a violation of the prohibition constitutes a moving violation. The bill authorizes the City of Laredo to assign its authority, duties, and responsibilities under the bill's provisions to the regional mobility authority in which the city is located. The bill grants the Department of Public Safety authority to enforce the bill's provisions and authorizes the commission to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions. |
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2861 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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