Bill Text: TX HB529 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the composition of the Texas Transportation Commission and the selection of members of that commission.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-19 - Withdrawn from schedule [HB529 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB529-Introduced.html

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84R2374 MTB-D
By: Larson H.B. No. 529

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the composition of the Texas Transportation Commission
and the selection of members of that commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.051(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas Transportation Commission consists of three
[five] members elected statewide [appointed by the governor with
the advice and consent of the senate].
SECTION 2. Section 201.052, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 201.052. TERMS. Members of the commission serve
staggered six-year terms, with the term [terms] of [either] one
member [or two members] expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered
year.
SECTION 3. Section 201.053(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The members of the commission shall elect from among
their membership [governor shall designate one commissioner as] the
chair of the commission, who shall serve as presiding officer of the
commission.
SECTION 4. Section 201.057(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) It is a ground for removal from the commission if a
commissioner:
(1) does not have at the time of taking office or
maintain during service on the commission the qualifications
required by Section 201.051;
(2) violates a prohibition provided by Section
201.051;
(3) cannot discharge the commissioner's duties for a
substantial part of the term for which the commissioner is elected
or appointed because of illness or disability; or
(4) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled commission meetings that the commissioner is eligible to
attend during a calendar year, unless the absence is excused by
majority vote of the commission.
SECTION 5. Sections 201.059(a) and (c), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) To be eligible to take office as a member of the
commission, a person elected or appointed to the commission must
complete at least one course of a training program that complies
with this section.
(c) A person elected or appointed to the commission is
entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses incurred in attending
the training program, as provided by the General Appropriations Act
and as if the person were a member of the commission.
SECTION 6. Section 52.092(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Statewide offices of the state government shall be
listed in the following order:
(1) governor;
(2) lieutenant governor;
(3) attorney general;
(4) comptroller of public accounts;
(5) commissioner of the General Land Office;
(6) commissioner of agriculture;
(7) commissioner of transportation;
(8) railroad commissioner;
(9) [(8)] chief justice, supreme court;
(10) [(9)] justice, supreme court;
(11) [(10)] presiding judge, court of criminal
appeals;
(12) [(11)] judge, court of criminal appeals.
SECTION 7. Sections 201.051(b), (b-1), (c), and (i),
Transportation Code, are repealed.
SECTION 8. (a) The first members of the Texas
Transportation Commission elected under the changes in law made by
this Act shall be elected at the general election held in November
2016 to serve for a term that begins February 1, 2017. The members
elected at that election shall draw lots to determine which
member's term expires February 1, 2019, which member's term expires
February 1, 2021, and which member's term expires February 1, 2023.
(b) Until the members of the Texas Transportation
Commission elected under this Act take office, the governor will
continue to appoint members to the Texas Transportation Commission
and those members shall, unless otherwise removed as provided by
law, continue in office under the prior law that governed the
composition of the Texas Transportation Commission, and that prior
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.