HBA-NRS H.B. 299 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 299 By: Gallego Transportation 2/12/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law provides a maximum lawful speed of 70 miles per hour in daytime for a vehicle on a highway numbered by the state or the United States 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 raises the maximum lawful speed on certain highways to 75 miles per hour in the daytime. 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 raise from 70 to 75 miles per hour the maximum lawful speed in daytime for a vehicle on a highway numbered by this state or the United States outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road. The bill authorizes the speed limit increase on a highway or portion of a highway that on the effective date of the Act has a speed limit of 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour in nighttime, but only if the Texas Department of Transportation determines that such an increase is appropriate. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.