BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	H.B. 1863
87R7630 JXC-D	By: Bucy et al. (Men�ndez)
	Transportation
	5/12/2021
	Engrossed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

As of 2018, the average cost of a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation is around $7,500. Although there are several Make-A-Wish chapters in Texas, there is still a large gap between the number of wishes granted and the number of children referred to the organization. Given that the Make-A-Wish Foundation generates strength and hope within the children for whom a wish is granted, there have been calls for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) to provide for the issuance of Make-A-Wish specialty license plates, the revenue of which will be made available to grant wishes of children in Texas.

 

H.B. 1863 amends the Transportation Code to require TxDMV to issue specialty license plates that include the words "Make-A-Wish" and to design the plates in consultation with a Texas chapter of Make-A-Wish. The bill requires the remainder of the fee for issuance of the license plates, after deduction of TxDMV administrative costs, to be deposited to the credit of an account created by the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas outside the general revenue fund. Money deposited to the account may be used only by the Health and Human Services Commission to make grants to a nonprofit organization that has a history of granting wishes for children diagnosed with a critical illness for the purpose of granting those wishes.

 

H.B. 1863 amends current law relating to the issuance of Make-A-Wish specialty license plates.

 

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 G, Chapter 504, Transportation Code, by adding Section 504.675, as follows:

 

Sec. 504.675. MAKE-A-WISH LICENSE PLATES. (a) Requires the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) to issue specialty license plates that include the words "Make-A-Wish." Requires TxDMV to design the plates in consultation with a Texas chapter of Make-A-Wish.

 

(b) Requires that the remainder of the fee for issuance of the license plates, after deduction of TxDMV's administrative costs, be deposited to the credit of an account created by the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas (comptroller) in the manner provided by Section 504.6012(b (relating to requiring the portion of a fee payable that is designated for deposit to a dedicated account to be paid instead to the credit of an account in a trust fund created by the comptroller outside the general revenue fund). Authorizes money deposited to that account to be used only by the Health and Human Services Commission to make grants to a nonprofit organization that has a history of granting wishes for children diagnosed with a critical illness for the purpose of granting those wishes.

 

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2021. �