HBA-NRS H.B. 299 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 299 By: Gallego Transportation 7/18/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law provided for a maximum lawful speed of 70 miles per hour in daytime for a vehicle on a Texas or United States highway outside an urban district. Ten western states with landscapes and population densities similar to the western part of Texas, including New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona, allow for a maximum speed limit of 75 miles per hour. House Bill 299 allows the Texas Transportation Commission to establish a speed limit of 75 miles per hour in daytime on a part of the highway system located in a county with a population density of less than 10 persons per square mile. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 299 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the Texas Transportation Commission (commission) to establish a speed limit of 75 miles per hour in daytime on a part of the highway system located in a county with a population density of less than 10 persons per square mile. The bill provides that the 75 mile per hour speed limit does not apply to trucks, other than light trucks and light trucks pulling a trailer, and truck tractors, trailers, and semitrailers. EFFECTIVE DATE June 17, 2001.