85R12128 JTS-F

By: Simmons H.B. No. 3825

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the application for federal highway and rail funds by a regional mobility authority.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 370.033(a), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) An authority, through its board, may:

(1) adopt rules for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) adopt an official seal;

(3) study, evaluate, design, finance, acquire, construct, maintain, repair, and operate transportation projects, individually or as one or more systems, provided that a transportation project that is subject to Subpart C, 23 C.F.R. Part 450, is:

(A) included in the plan approved by the applicable metropolitan planning organization; and

(B) consistent with the statewide transportation plan and the statewide transportation improvement program;

(4) acquire, hold, and dispose of property in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this chapter;

(5) enter into contracts or operating agreements with a similar authority, another governmental entity, or an agency of the United States, a state of the United States, the United Mexican States, or a state of the United Mexican States;

(6) enter into contracts or agreements necessary or incidental to its powers and duties under this chapter;

(7) cooperate and work directly with property owners and governmental entities and officials to support an activity required to promote or develop a transportation project;

(8) employ and set the compensation and benefits of administrators, consulting engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts, superintendents, managers, full-time and part-time employees, agents, consultants, and other persons as the authority considers necessary or useful;

(8-a) participate in the state travel management program administered by the comptroller for the purpose of obtaining reduced airline fares and reduced travel agent fees, provided that the comptroller may charge the authority a fee not to exceed the costs incurred by the comptroller in providing services to the authority;

(9) notwithstanding Sections 221.003 and 222.031 and subject to Subsection [Subsections (j) and] (m), apply for, directly or indirectly receive and spend loans, gifts, grants, and other contributions for any purpose of this chapter, including the construction of a transportation project, and receive and spend contributions of money, property, labor, or other things of value from any source, including the United States, a state of the United States, the United Mexican States, a state of the United Mexican States, the commission, the department, a subdivision of this state, or a governmental entity or private entity, to be used for the purposes for which the grants, loans, or contributions are made, and enter into any agreement necessary for the grants, loans, or contributions;

(10) install, construct, or contract for the construction of public utility facilities, direct the time and manner of construction of a public utility facility in, on, along, over, or under a transportation project, or request the removal or relocation of a public utility facility in, on, along, over, or under a transportation project;

(11) organize a corporation under Chapter 431 for the promotion and development of transportation projects;

(12) adopt and enforce rules not inconsistent with this chapter for the use of any transportation project, including tolls, fares, or other user fees, speed and weight limits, and traffic and other public safety rules, provided that an authority must consider the same factors that the Texas Turnpike Authority division of the department must consider in altering a prima facie speed limit under Section 545.354;

(13) enter into leases, operating agreements, service agreements, licenses, franchises, and similar agreements with a public or private party governing the party's use of all or any portion of a transportation project and the rights and obligations of the authority with respect to a transportation project;

(14) borrow money from or enter into a loan agreement or other arrangement with the state infrastructure bank, the department, the commission, or any other public or private entity; and

(15) do all things necessary or appropriate to carry out the powers and duties expressly granted or imposed by this chapter.

SECTION 2. Section 370.033(j), Transportation Code, is repealed.

SECTION 3. 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.