HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 3204 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3204
By: Danburg
Public Education
4/19/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Article 2774b, V.T.C.S. governs the election of members of the board of
trustees (board) in an independent school district (district) with 140,000
or more students in a city with a population of 1,590,000 or more.
Currently, this statute applies only to the Houston Independent School
District.  
C.S.H.B. 3204 authorizes a district covered under this statute to count
write-in votes and require the declaration of write-in candidates in
accordance with Section 11.056 (Write-In Voting), Education Code, or other
laws applicable to districts.  This bill also modifies Article 2774b,
V.T.C.S., to require that a person's written notice of candidacy for the
board of a district covered by the statute be accompanied by a filing fee
or a petition signed by a prescribed number of qualified voters. 

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 3, Article 2774b, V.T.C.S. (Chapter 339, Special
Laws, Acts of the 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1951), by adding
Subsection (d), as follows: 

(d)  Authorizes a school district to count write-in votes and require the
declaration of write-in candidates in the manner provided by Section 11.056
(Write-in Voting), Education Code. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 4, Article 2774b, V.T.C.S. (Chapter 339, Special
Laws, Acts of the 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1951), as follows: 

(a)  Provides that a person who does not file a notice and request,
accompanied by a filing fee or petition provided by Subsections (b) and (c)
of this section, is not entitled to have the person's name printed on the
ballot to be used at an election for a board of trustees for a school
district. 

(b)  Provides that except as provided in Subsection (c), the written notice
under Subsection (a) must be accompanied by a filing fee for the greater of
$500 or the amount of the filing fee for a candidate for state
representative under Section 172.024 (Filing Fee), Election Code. Provides
that the fee may be paid only in cash or a cashier's check, certified
check, or money order made payable to the district. 

(c)  Authorizes a candidate to submit with the written notice a petition
signed signed by a number of registered voters equal to at least one-half
of one percent of the total number of votes case in the district in the
most recent gubernatorial election, instead of the fee under Subsection
(b). 

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause. 

 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3204 differs from the original bill in SECTION 1 (Section 3,
Article 2774b, V.T.C.S.), by modifying proposed Subsection (d) to delete
general laws applicable to independent school districts from those statutes
applicable to the manner in which a school district may count write-in
votes and declare write-in candidates. 

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 2 (Section 4, Article
2774b, V.T.C.S.) to conform to Legislative Council format.  It also
clarifies, in Subsection (c) that a candidate is authorized  to submit a
petition instead of the filing fee under Subsection (b).  The original bill
did not specify that this petition was an option to this filing fee.  Makes
nonsubstantive changes.