| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the display of certain historical state documents. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter L, Chapter 441, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Sections 441.206 and 441.207 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 441.206. DISPLAY OF CERTAIN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS IN |
|
|
CAPITOL COMPLEX. (a) The commission, in consultation and |
|
|
collaboration with the State Preservation Board and the Texas |
|
|
Historical Commission, shall designate an appropriate place in the |
|
|
Capitol Complex to securely display the Texas Constitution and the |
|
|
Texas Declaration of Independence. |
|
|
(b) The commission shall pay the costs attributable to the |
|
|
display of the Texas Constitution and the Texas Declaration of |
|
|
Independence using available funds or funds appropriated to the |
|
|
commission for that purpose. |
|
|
(c) The commission, in consultation and collaboration with |
|
|
the State Preservation Board and the Texas Historical Commission |
|
|
and not later than December 1, 2027, shall: |
|
|
(1) develop a plan to display in the Capitol Complex |
|
|
the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Texas Constitution; |
|
|
(2) publish the plan on the commission's Internet |
|
|
website; and |
|
|
(3) provide a copy of the plan to the standing |
|
|
committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over the state's |
|
|
historical resources. |
|
|
(d) Subsection (c) and this subsection expire September 1, |
|
|
2031. |
|
|
(e) The commission, in consultation and collaboration with |
|
|
the State Preservation Board and the Texas Historical Commission, |
|
|
may authorize for a limited period the display of the Texas |
|
|
Constitution or the Texas Declaration of Independence at a |
|
|
historical event or historical site. |
|
|
Sec. 441.207. CARE, CUSTODY, AND DISPLAY OF VICTORY OR |
|
|
DEATH LETTER. (a) In this section, "victory or death letter" means |
|
|
the letter written by Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis dated |
|
|
February 24, 1836, and signed "Victory or Death." |
|
|
(b) The commission, in consultation and collaboration with |
|
|
the State Preservation Board and the Texas Historical Commission, |
|
|
is responsible for the care and custody of the victory or death |
|
|
letter. |
|
|
(c) The commission shall designate an appropriate place in |
|
|
the Alamo complex to securely display the victory or death letter. |
|
|
(d) Until the commission designates an appropriate place in |
|
|
the Alamo complex to display the victory or death letter and |
|
|
determines an appropriate time to securely transfer the letter to |
|
|
that place, the commission shall display the victory or death |
|
|
letter at the Capitol Complex with other historical documents, |
|
|
including the Texas Constitution and Texas Declaration of |
|
|
Independence. |
|
|
(e) Costs attributable to the display of the victory or |
|
|
death letter under Subsection (c) or (d) shall be paid by money from |
|
|
the Alamo complex account and are an authorized use of the money |
|
|
under Section 31.454(e), Natural Resources Code. |
|
|
|
|
|
(f) The commission, in consultation and collaboration with |
|
|
the State Preservation Board and the Texas Historical Commission, |
|
|
may authorize for a limited period the display of the victory or |
|
|
death letter at a historical event or historical site. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |