HBA-DMH H.B. 1831 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1831 By: Pickett Transportation 7/25/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE When an individual is diagnosed with cancer, there are many expenses associated with treatment and care that can put a financial strain on the individual or the individual's family. There are community organizations and agencies that assist with these expenses, but those resources are limited. Additional funds can be raised by creating a specially designed license plate that may be purchased to support a cause and depositing the revenue generated by the license plate in a separate account. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), among its responsibilities, offers several specially designed license plates to registrants. House Bill 1831 requires TxDOT to create a "Texans Conquer Cancer" license plate that raises money to be awarded to Texas nonprofit organizations that provide support services for cancer patients and their families, creates a YMCA account in the general revenue fund for the deposit of YMCA license plate proceeds, and establishes TxDOT's authority to contract with one or more local governments. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Transportation in SECTION 1 (Section 201.209, Transportation Code) and to the Texas Cancer Council in SECTION 3 (Section 102.017, Health and Safety Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 1831 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to enter into an interlocal contract with one or more local governments in accordance with the Interlocal Cooperation Act. The bill requires TxDOT, by rule, to adopt policies and procedures consistent with applicable state procurement practices for soliciting and awarding the contracts under its authority. The bill requires TxDOT to issue specially designed license plates for certain vehicles, designed in consultation with the Texas Cancer Council (council), that include the words "Texans Conquer Cancer." The bill requires TxDOT to issue the license plates to a person that completes the specified application process and pays the prescribed fees. The bill requires an owner of a vehicle with "Texans Conquer Cancer" license plates to return the license plates to TxDOT if the owner disposes of the vehicle during a registration year. The bill requires TxDOT to use $5 of the fee collected for the license plates for administration costs only and to deposit the remainder of the collected fees to the credit of the Texans Conquer Cancer account. The bill amends the Health and Safety Code to create the Texans Conquer Cancer account within the general revenue fund and sets forth provisions for the fund's use and administration. The bill requires the council to establish, by rule, guidelines for spending money credited to the account. The bill requires the council to appoint a seven-member Texans Conquer Cancer advisory committee, establishes the duties of the committee, and sets forth the terms of service of the committee members. The bill amends the Transportation and Education codes to create a YMCA account as a separate account in the general revenue fund. The bill establishes a fee of $30 for a YMCA license plate, in addition to any applicable motor vehicle registration fee. The bill requires TxDOT to use $5 of the fee to administer the issuance of the YMCA plates and to deposit the remainder of the fee to the credit of the YMCA account. The bill provides that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) administers the YMCA account, and authorizes TEA to spend money credited to the YMCA account only to make grants to benefit the youth and government programs sponsored by the YMCAs located in Texas. EFFECTIVE DATE June 14, 2001.