BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	H.B. 693
86R3217 TSS-D	By: Harris (Schwertner)
	Transportation
	5/2/2019
	Engrossed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Trooper Damon Allen was killed in the line of duty on Thanksgiving Day 2017. Trooper Allen was executing a traffic stop on DaBrett Black, who was out on parole, when Black shot and killed Allen. He is survived by his wife, Kasey Allen, and their four children. Trooper Allen selflessly served the people of Texas as a Texas State Trooper for 15 years and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

 

H.B. 693 establishes a memorial highway for fallen State Trooper Damon Allen on U.S. Highway 84 in Freestone County. If passed, this bill, along with H.B. 1249, will designate a memorial highway throughout the entirety of both Limestone and Freestone counties on U.S. Highway 84, honoring the life, legacy, and sacrifice of Damon Allen in the two counties he lived and worked in for most of his life.

 

H.B. 693 will erect two markers created by TxDOT to indicate each end of the memorial highway. No state dollars are to be spent on the creation of these memorial markers. The cost of the highway markers is provided through private funds, and the total cost for a pair of conventional highway signs is $4,416.

 

The city of Fairfield has submitted a resolution in support of H.B. 693.

 

H.B. 693 amends current law relating to the designation of the portion of U.S. Highway 84 in Freestone County as the Trooper Damon Allen Memorial Highway.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 225, Transportation Code, by adding Section 225.152, as follows:

 

Sec. 225.152. TROOPER DAMON ALLEN MEMORIAL HIGHWAY. (a) Provides that the portion of U.S. Highway 84 in Freestone County is designated as the Trooper Damon Allen Memorial Highway.

 

(b) Requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), subject to Section 225.021(c) (relating to prohibiting TxDOT from designing, constructing, or erecting a marker unless a grant or donation of funds is made to cover the cost), to:

 

(1) design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Trooper Damon Allen 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 2. Effective date: September 1, 2019.