By: Guillen (Senate Sponsor - Garcia) H.B. No. 499
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015;
May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation; May 19, 2015, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the public transportation advisory committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 455.004(b) and (c), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The members of the committee shall be appointed by the
governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives, who shall each appoint:
(1) one member who represents a diverse cross-section
of public transportation providers and may be employed by a transit
provider or organization representing transit providers;
(2) one member who represents a diverse cross-section
of transportation users and may not be employed by a transit
provider or organization representing transit providers; and
(3) one member who represents the general public and
who may be on the staff of a metropolitan planning organization or
rural transportation planning organization but may not be employed
by a transit provider or organization representing transit
providers.
(c) Members serve for staggered terms of six years, with the
terms of three members expiring on February 1 of each odd-numbered
year. A vacancy on the committee shall be filled in the same manner
as the original appointment for that position [A member serves at
the pleasure of the officer who appointed the member]. A member is
not entitled to compensation for service on the committee but is
entitled to reimbursement for reasonable expenses the member incurs
in performing committee duties.
SECTION 2. (a) The terms of the public transportation
advisory committee members serving on the effective date of this
Act expire January 31, 2017.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Section
455.004(b), Transportation Code, apply only to a member of the
public transportation advisory committee with a term beginning on
or after the effective date of this Act. A member of the public
transportation advisory committee with a term beginning before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(c) Notwithstanding the changes in law made by this Act, a
member of the public transportation advisory committee with a term
beginning before the effective date of this Act may be reappointed
to the committee under Section 455.004, Transportation Code.
(d) The governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
house of representatives each shall appoint three members to the
committee, in accordance with Section 455.004, Transportation
Code, as amended by this Act, for terms beginning February 1, 2017,
with one member having a term expiring February 1, 2019, one member
having a term expiring February 1, 2021, and one member having a
term expiring February 1, 2023.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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