By: Wentworth S.B. No. 581
(In the Senate - Filed January 29, 2009; February 23, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and
Homeland Security; March 9, 2009, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 9, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to intermunicipal commuter rail districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 2, Article 6550c-1,
Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The following political subdivisions and other public
entities may become a part of a district created under Subsection
(b) of this section with the approval of the governing body of the
political subdivision or public entity:
(1) a county located adjacent to a county in which a
creating municipality is located; [and]
(2) a municipality with a population of more than
18,000 located in a county described by Subdivision (1) of this
subsection; and
(3) a public entity located in a county that has become
a part of the district.
SECTION 2. Section 3, Article 6550c-1, Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (i) to
read as follows:
(b) The board is composed of the following members:
(1) two public members appointed by the commission;
(2) one elected member of the governing body of each
political subdivision that has become a part of the district under
Section 2 of this article;
(3) one elected member appointed by the regional
planning organization of which a creating municipality is a part;
(4) one member appointed by each creating municipality
to represent the business community of the municipality;
(5) one member appointed by each authority created
under Chapter 451, Transportation Code, that serves a creating
municipality;
(6) one member appointed by each county in which a
creating municipality is located to represent transportation
providers that provide service to rural areas in the county; [and]
(7) one member appointed by each public entity that
has become a part of the district under Section 2 of this article;
and
(8) one member appointed by all other board members to
represent all municipalities in the district that do not otherwise
have representation on the board and who shall be an elected
official of one of those municipalities.
(i) The board shall adopt a name for the district and may by
resolution change the name of the district.
SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Section 4, Article 6550c-1,
Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
(e) A district may acquire, construct, develop, own,
operate, and maintain intermodal and commuter rail facilities, or
intercity or other types of passenger rail services, inside, or
connect political subdivisions in, the district. For these
purposes and with the consent of any municipality, county, or other
political subdivision, the district may use streets, alleys, roads,
highways, and other public ways of any municipality, county, or
other political subdivision and may relocate, raise, reroute,
change the grade of, or alter, at the expense of the district, the
construction of any street, alley, highway, road, railroad,
electric lines and facilities, telegraph and telephone properties
and facilities, pipelines and facilities, conduits and facilities,
and other properties, whether publicly or privately owned, as
necessary or useful in the construction, reconstruction, repair,
maintenance, and operation of the system. A district may not use or
alter a road or highway in the state highway system without the
permission of the commission or a railroad without permission of
the railroad. A district may at its discretion acquire by purchase
any interest in real property for the acquisition, construction, or
operation of any commuter rail facility on terms and at a price as
agreed to between the district and the owner. The governing body of
any municipality, county, other political subdivision, or public
agency may make conveyance of title or rights and easements to any
property needed by the district to effect its purposes in
connection with the acquisition, construction, or operation of the
system.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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