Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2549 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1		-	By: Davis of Dallas (Senate Sponsor - Hancock) H.B. No. 2549
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2015;
3		-	May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
4		-	Transportation; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following
5		-	vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	H.B. No. 2549
7	2
8	3
9		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	4		AN ACT
11	5		relating to the authority and operation of regional tollway
12	6		authorities.
13	7		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	8		SECTION 1. Section 366.038, Transportation Code, is amended
15	9		by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
16	10		(h) For purposes of Subchapter C, Chapter 372, a toll
17	11		project for which an authority provides tolling services under a
18	12		tolling services agreement is considered a toll project of the
19	13		authority and the authority is considered the toll project entity
20	14		with respect to all rights and remedies arising under that
21	15		subchapter regarding the toll project. The authority may not stop,
22	16		detain, or impound a motor vehicle as authorized under that
23	17		subchapter on a toll project's active traffic lanes unless a
24	18		tolling service agreement addresses that action.
25	19		SECTION 2. Section 366.178, Transportation Code, is amended
26	20		by amending Subsections (b-2), (b-3), (d), and (g) and adding
27	21		Subsection (k) to read as follows:
28	22		(b-2) If the authority does not collect the proper toll at
29	23		the time a vehicle is driven or towed through a toll assessment
30	24		facility, the authority shall send an invoice by first class mail to
31	25		the registered owner of the vehicle. The invoice may include one or
32	26		more tolls assessed by the authority for use of the project by the
33	27		nonpaying vehicle and must specify the date by which the toll or
34	28		tolls must be paid. Except as provided by Subsection (b-3), the
35	29		registered owner shall pay the unpaid tolls included in the invoice
36	30		not later than the 25th [30th] day after the date the invoice is
37	31		mailed.
38	32		(b-3) If the address to which the invoice issued under
39	33		Subsection (b-2) is mailed to the registered owner is determined to
40	34		be incorrect, the registered owner shall pay the invoice not later
41	35		than the 25th [30th] day after the date the invoice is mailed to the
42	36		correct address.
43	37		(d) Unless an authority requires additional time to send a
44	38		notice of nonpayment because of events outside the authority's
45	39		reasonable control, the authority shall send the first notice of
46	40		nonpayment not later than the 30th day after the date the 25-day
47	41		[30-day] period expires for the registered owner to pay the invoice
48	42		issued under Subsection (b-2) or (b-3). If an authority requires
49	43		additional time as provided by this subsection, the authority must
50	44		send the notice not later than the 60th day after the date the
51	45		25-day [30-day] period expires for the registered owner to pay the
52	46		invoice issued under Subsection (b-2) or (b-3). The first notice of
53	47		nonpayment shall require payment of the unpaid tolls included in
54	48		the invoice and the administrative fee before the 25th [30th] day
55	49		after the date the first notice of nonpayment is mailed.
56	50		(g) The court of the local jurisdiction in which the unpaid
57	51		toll was assessed may assess and collect the fine in addition to any
58	52		court costs. The court may [shall] collect and forward to the
59	53		authority properly assessed [the] unpaid tolls, administrative
60	54		fees, and third-party collection service fees incurred by the
61	55		authority as determined by:
62	56		(1) the court after a hearing; or
63	57		(2) written agreement of the registered owner [on or
64	58		before the date the fines and court costs are collected by the court
65	59		and forward the tolls and fees to the authority. Payment of the
66	60		unpaid tolls, administrative fees, and third-party collection
67	61		service fees by the registered owner may not be waived by the court
68	62		unless the court finds that the registered owner of the vehicle is
69	63		indigent].
70	64		(k) As authorized under Section 322.008(d)(2), Business &
71	65		Commerce Code, an authority may provide information, including an
72	66		invoice or notice, required under this section to be sent first
73	67		class mail instead as an electronic record:
74	68		(1) if the recipient of the information agrees to the
75	69		transmission of the information as an electronic record; and
76	70		(2) on terms acceptable to the recipient.
77	71		SECTION 3. Section 366.261(b), Transportation Code, is
78	72		amended to read as follows:
79	73		(b) Not later than June 30 [March 31] of each year, an
80	74		authority shall file with the commissioners court of each county of
81	75		the authority a written report on the authority's activities
82	76		describing all turnpike revenue bond issuances anticipated for the
83	77		coming year, the financial condition of the authority, all project
84	78		schedules, and the status of the authority's performance under the
85	79		most recent strategic plan. At the invitation of a commissioners
86	80		court of a county in the authority, representatives of the board and
87	81		the administrative head of an authority shall appear before the
88	82		commissioners court to present the report and receive questions and
89	83		comments.
90	84		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
91		-	* * * * *
	85	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	86	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	87	+	I certify that H.B. No. 2549 was passed by the House on May
	88	+	11, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 2, 1 present, not
	89	+	voting.
	90	+	______________________________
	91	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	92	+	I certify that H.B. No. 2549 was passed by the Senate on May
	93	+	26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	94	+	______________________________
	95	+	Secretary of the Senate
	96	+	APPROVED: _____________________
	97	+	Date
	98	+	_____________________
	99	+	Governor