BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3208

By: Anchía

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that since the 1980s, Korean-Americans have been opening businesses around the Dallas neighborhood adjacent to Royal Lane and Harry Hines Boulevard, turning the area from an industrial zone to the thriving business district that it is today. The bill author has also informed the committee that Koreatown Dallas is home to the largest Korean-American community in Texas and, thanks to hardworking Korean-Americans, has become a large economic engine for the Dallas and North Texas areas. In 2023, the 88th Legislature enacted S.C.R. 31 to officially designate the area of Royal Lane from Harry Hines Boulevard to Luna Road as Koreatown Dallas for a 10-year period. The bill author has further informed the committee, however, that while this designation is a step forward, there are no highway exit signs that direct traffic towards Koreatown Dallas, preventing visitors from contributing to this growing business district. C.S.H.B. 3208 seeks to remedy this issue by directing the Texas Department of Transportation to install highway signs guiding road users to Koreatown Dallas and to the Chinatown District in Richardson.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3208 requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), not later than September 1, 2026, to erect and maintain highway signs guiding road users to the Koreatown District in the Northwest Dallas neighborhood of Dallas from the following routes:

· the exits for Royal Lane from northbound and southbound Interstate Highway 35E; and

· the exits for Luna Road from eastbound and westbound Interstate Highway 635.

The bill also requires TxDOT, not later than September 1, 2026, to erect and maintain highway signs guiding road users to the Chinatown District in Richardson from the following routes:

· the exits for Arapaho Road from northbound and southbound U.S. Highway 75; and

· the exits for Belt Line Road and Main Street from northbound and southbound U.S. Highway 75.

C.S.H.B. 3208 prohibits a sign erected under either requirement from violating the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices or the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices issued by the Federal Highway Administration.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3208 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced requiring TxDOT, not later than September 1, 2026, to erect and maintain highway signs guiding road users to the Chinatown District in Richardson from specified routes, subject to the provision appearing in both versions that prohibits a sign erected under the bill's provision from violating certain manuals.