HBA-DMD H.B. 1618 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1618 By: Keel State, Federal & International Relations 3/4/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Until 1997, there was no provision in Texas law that allowed for residents of a community without a public library to vote to tax themselves in order to support a library through a library district. Legislation passed by the 75th Legislature authorizes a county without a public library to create a library district if the population of the county is 100,000 or more. H.B. 1618 reduces the population needed from 100,000 or more to 50,000 or more, for a county to be authorized to create a library district. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 326.004(a), Local Government Code, to authorize the creation of a library district in a county with a population of more than 50,000, rather than 100,000, and upon creation the library district must be maintained, operated, and financed as provided by this chapter (Library Districts). SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3.Emergency clause.