| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the issuance of state parklands passports to and a |
|
|
waiver of certain state park fees for veterans and certain family |
|
|
members of a person who died while serving in the United States |
|
|
armed forces. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Sections 13.018(a) and (c), Parks and Wildlife |
|
|
Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The following people may apply to the department for a |
|
|
state parklands passport: |
|
|
(1) a resident of this state who is 65 years old or |
|
|
over who has resided in the state for six consecutive months |
|
|
preceding the date of application for a parklands passport, a |
|
|
member of the United States armed forces on active duty who is 65 |
|
|
years old or over, or any other individual in a category that the |
|
|
commission by rule designates as a resident of this state who is 65 |
|
|
years old or over; |
|
|
(2) a veteran of the armed services of the United |
|
|
States [who, as a result of military service, has a |
|
|
service-connected disability, as defined by the Veterans' |
|
|
Administration, consisting of the loss of the use of a lower |
|
|
extremity or of a 60 percent disability rating and who is receiving |
|
|
compensation from the United States because of the disability]; |
|
|
[and] |
|
|
(3) an individual who has a physical or mental |
|
|
impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life |
|
|
activities of the individual; and |
|
|
(4) a surviving spouse, parent, child, or sibling of a |
|
|
person who died while serving in the United States armed forces. |
|
|
(c) The holder of a state parklands passport issued on or |
|
|
before August 31, 1995, a person whose birth date is before |
|
|
September 1, 1930, or a person [veteran] described by Subsection |
|
|
(a)(2) or (a)(4) is entitled to enter any state park without payment |
|
|
of an entrance or admission fee. When a fee is charged by the |
|
|
department for entrance of a vehicle into a state park, the vehicle |
|
|
of the holder of a state parklands passport is exempt from the fee |
|
|
when the holder is present. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |