BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center

C.S.H.B. 3642

89R32945 RDR-D

By: Hefner (Hughes)

 

Transportation

 

5/23/2025

 

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Petty Officer Billy Wayne Machen, who was killed in the line of duty on August 19, 1966, was the first U.S. Navy SEAL to be killed in combat in the Vietnam War and that as a point man for his team, Machen led his fellow SEALs through the jungle, sensing something was wrong and sacrificing his own life by taking on an enemy ambush alone to save his troops waiting behind.

 

Furthermore, in the summer of 2024, nine-year-old Molly Mullens was killed in a head-on collision when driving home from Colorado with her family. After learning from local law enforcement that the stretch of highway is a known accident "hot spot," the Mullens family worked to improve safety by replacing the cable barriers with concrete barriers, hoping to prevent future accidents.

 

Finally, on September 17, 2024, Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Alexis Ramirez Vasquez was struck by a vehicle while investigating a traffic crash along State Highway 302. Tragically, Trooper Ramirez Vasquez succumbed to his injuries on September 28, becoming the 241st Department of Public Safety officer to die in the line of duty since 1823.

 

H.B. 3642 seeks to honor the lives and legacies of these individuals by designating certain portions of the state highway system as memorial highways and bridges in their honor. The Farm-to-Market Road 852 bridge crossing Lake Gilmer in Upshur County would be designated as the Petty Officer Billy Machen Memorial Bridge. The portion of U.S. Highway 287 in Wilbarger County between its intersection with County Road 111 and County Road 132 East would be designated as the Molly Mullens Mile. Finally, the portion of State Highway 302 in Ector County between its intersection with Farm-to-Market Road 2019 and the Ector-Winkler County line would be designated as the Trooper Kevin Ramirez Vasquez Memorial Highway.

 

(Original Author's/Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

 

C.S.H.B. 3642 amends current law relating to the designation of portions of the state highway system as memorial highways and bridges and to certain memorial markers and designations on certain highways.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Transportation Commission in SECTION 1 (Section 201.911, Transportation Code) of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 201.911, Transportation Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (c-1), as follows:

 

(a) Redefines "victim."

 

(c) Requires that a sign designed and posted under Section 201.911 (Memorial Sign Program for Motorcyclists) include certain elements, including a motorcyclist safety message selected from the options provided by the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) rule under Subsection (c-1), rather than a red cross.

 

(c-1) Requires TTC by rule to develop motorcyclist safety messages that are authorized to be used on the memorial signs under this section.

 

SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 225, Transportation Code, by adding Sections 225.243, 225.244, 225.245, and 225.246, as follows:

 

Sec. 225.243. DEPUTY SHERIFF DAVID BOSECKER MEMORIAL HIGHWAY. (a) Provides that the portion of U.S. Highway 183 in Eastland County between its intersection with Farm-to-Market Road 2526 and its intersection with Farm-to-Market Road 2731 is designated as the Deputy Sheriff David Bosecker Memorial Highway. Provides that the designation is in addition to any other designation.

 

(b) Requires TxDOT, subject to Section 225.021(c), to design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Deputy Sheriff David Bosecker Memorial Highway and any other appropriate information and erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

Sec. 225.244. CECIL AND DOROTHY BELL MEMORIAL HIGHWAY. (a) Provides that the portion of U.S. Highway 79 in Freestone and Leon Counties between its intersection with U.S. Highway 84 and its intersection with the western municipal limits of Oakwood is designated as the Cecil and Dorothy Bell Memorial Highway. Provides that the designation is in addition to any other designation.

 

(b) Requires TxDOT, subject to Section 225.021(c), to design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Cecil and Dorothy Bell Memorial Highway and any other appropriate information and erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

Sec. 225.245. HAMBY-WEBB MEMORIAL HIGHWAY. (a) Provides that the portion of State Highway 315 in Panola County between its intersection with the western Panola County line and its intersection with the western municipal boundary of Carthage is designated as the Hamby-Webb Memorial Highway. Provides that the designation is in addition to any other designation.

 

(b) Requires TxDOT, subject to Section 225.021(c), to design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Hamby-Webb Memorial Highway and any other appropriate information and erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

Sec. 225.246. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON MEMORIAL HIGHWAY. (a) Provides that the portion of U.S. Highway 67 in Dallas and Ellis Counties between its intersection with U.S. Highway 287 and its intersection with Interstate Highway 20 is designated as the Eddie Bernice Johnson Memorial Highway. Provides that the designation is in addition to any other designation.

 

(b) Requires TxDOT, subject to Section 225.021(c), to design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Eddie Bernice Johnson Memorial Highway and any other appropriate information and erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.

 

SECTION 3. (a) Requires TTC, not later than December 1, 2025, to adopt the rules required by Section 201.911(c-1), Transportation Code, as added by this Act.

 

(b) Provides that, notwithstanding Section 201.911, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, TxDOT is not required to comply with the changes in law made by this Act to that section before March 1, 2026.

 

SECTION 4. Provides that it is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, that the provisions added by this Act be renumbered to prevent multiple provisions with the same designation.

 

SECTION 5. Effective date: September 1, 2025.