85R7925 AJZ-D
 
  By: Thierry H.B. No. 1511
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to providing certain election information on the highway
  changeable message sign system.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 544.013, Transportation Code, is amended
  by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The Texas Department of Transportation in cooperation
  with local governments shall actively manage a system of changeable
  message signs located on highways under the jurisdiction of the
  department to:
               (1)  mitigate traffic congestion by providing current
  information to the traveling public, including information about
  traffic incidents, weather conditions, road construction, and
  alternative routes when applicable; and
               (2)  provide information regarding the date of an
  election held statewide and the associated voter registration
  deadline for the election.
         (c)  The Texas Department of Transportation, in consultation
  with the secretary of state, shall establish a plan to provide the
  information described by Subsection (b)(2) using the system of
  changeable message signs managed under this section. The plan
  established under this subsection must require the information
  described by Subsection (b)(2) to be posted on the system in English
  and Spanish for the following periods:
               (1)  two days before voting begins in the election
  through the end of election day; and
               (2)  two days before the deadline for voter
  registration through the end of the last day of voter registration
  for the election.
         (d)  The plan established under Subsection (c) must also
  require that the information described by Subsection (b)(2) not be
  posted on a changeable message sign if the posting would interfere
  with another safety or emergency alert, including an alert
  providing information described by Subsection (b)(1).
         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, 2017.