2015S0442-1 03/10/15
By: Hinojosa, et al. S.B. No. 1953
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Texas-Mexico Commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 490B, Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 490B. TEXAS-MEXICO [STRATEGIC INVESTMENT] COMMISSION
SECTION 2. Sections 490B.001, 490B.002, and 490B.003,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 490B.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the border inspection,
trade, and transportation advisory committee established under
Section 490B.009.
(2) "Commission" means the Texas-Mexico [Strategic
Investment] Commission.
(3) "Director" means the border affairs director.
(4) "Interagency work group" means the interagency
work group on border issues established under Section 490B.008.
(5) [(2)] "Texas-Mexico border region" has the
meaning assigned by Section 2056.002.
Sec. 490B.002. PURPOSE. The ongoing economic stability and
growth of Texas and the improved quality of life for all Texans are
dependent in part on coordination with neighboring states. Texas
and the Mexican border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon,
and Tamaulipas face common challenges in the areas of
infrastructure, health care, access to and availability of water,
economic development and trade, security and public safety, and
environmental protection. The commission will encourage a
collaborative approach between Texas and neighboring Mexican
states in specific areas so as to better address challenges and plan
for the future.
Sec. 490B.003. TEXAS-MEXICO [STRATEGIC INVESTMENT]
COMMISSION; MEMBERS. (a) The Texas-Mexico [Strategic Investment]
Commission is established.
(b) The commission is composed of:
(1) the director [border commerce coordinator] or the
director's [a] designee;
(2) the secretary of state [executive director of the
Texas Department of Transportation] or the secretary's [a]
designee;
(3) one member appointed by the governor;
(4) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor;
and
(5) one member appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives [the executive administrator of the Texas Water
Development Board or a designee;
[(4) the commissioner of state health services or a
designee;
[(5) the chair of the Railroad Commission or a designee;
and
[(6) the executive director of the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality or a designee].
(c) The secretary of state or the secretary's designee
[border commerce coordinator] shall serve as the chair of the
commission.
(d) To be eligible for appointment to the commission by the
governor, lieutenant governor, or speaker of the house of
representatives, a person must have resided in a county that
borders the United Mexican States for the three years immediately
preceding the date on which the person's term will begin.
SECTION 3. Section 490B.004, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read
as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) represent government agencies within the
Texas-Mexico border region to help reduce regulations by improving
communication and cooperation between federal, state, and local
governments;
(2) examine trade issues between the United States and
Mexico;
(3) study the flow of commerce at ports of entry
between this state and Mexico, including the movement of commercial
vehicles across the border, and establish a plan to aid that
commerce and improve the movement of those vehicles;
(4) work with federal officials to resolve
transportation issues involving infrastructure, including roads
and bridges, to allow for the efficient movement of goods and people
across the border between Texas and Mexico;
(5) work with federal officials to create a unified
federal agency process to streamline border crossing needs;
(6) identify problems involved with border truck
inspections and related trade and transportation infrastructure;
(7) work to increase funding for the North American
Development Bank to assist in the financing of water and wastewater
facilities;
(8) explore the sale of excess electric power from
Texas to Mexico;
(9) identify areas of environmental protection that
need to be addressed cooperatively between Texas and the Mexican
states;
(10) identify common challenges to health care on
which all states can collaborate; [and]
(11) develop recommendations, when possible, for
addressing border security challenges; and
(12) establish and appoint committees as it considers
necessary to study specific issues affecting the Texas-Mexico
border region.
(d) The commission shall [may] meet at least once a year. In
each even-numbered year, the commission shall meet for a
Texas-Mexico Border Summit to be held in a county of this state that
borders the United Mexican States. The commission shall invite to
the summit [with] representatives from the Mexican states of
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas [during the Border
Governors Conference] to discuss issues and challenges of the
Texas-Mexico border region and develop strategic collaborative
approaches for addressing the challenges.
(e) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
commission shall submit to the legislature its recommendations to
address challenges faced by the Texas-Mexico border region.
SECTION 4. Chapter 490B, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 490B.006, 490B.007, 490B.008, 490B.009, and
490B.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 490B.006. ADMINISTRATIVE ATTACHMENT; SUPPORT; BUDGET.
(a) The commission is administratively attached to the Center for
Border Economic and Enterprise Development established under
Section 79.09, Education Code.
(b) The Center for Border Economic and Enterprise
Development shall provide administrative support services,
including human resources, budget, accounting, purchasing,
payroll, information technology, and legal support services, to the
commission as necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(c) The commission, in accordance with the rules and
procedures of the Legislative Budget Board, shall prepare, approve,
and submit a legislative appropriations request that is separate
from the legislative appropriations request for the Center for
Border Economic and Enterprise Development and that is to be used in
developing the commission's budget structure. The commission shall
maintain the commission's legislative appropriations request and
budget structure separately from those of the center.
Sec. 490B.007. BORDER AFFAIRS DIRECTOR. (a) The governor
shall appoint a border affairs director to serve at the will of the
governor in the governor's office or in the office of the secretary
of state, as determined by the governor. The director shall:
(1) examine trade issues between the United States,
Mexico, and Canada;
(2) act as an ombudsman for government agencies within
the Texas-Mexico border region to help reduce regulations by
improving communication and cooperation between federal, state,
and local governments;
(3) study the flow of commerce at ports of entry
between this state and Mexico, including the movement of commercial
vehicles across the border, and establish a plan to aid that
commerce and improve the movement of those vehicles;
(4) work with federal officials to resolve
transportation issues involving infrastructure, including roads
and bridges, to allow for the efficient movement of goods and people
across the border between Texas and Mexico;
(5) work with federal officials to create a unified
federal agency process to streamline border crossing needs;
(6) work to increase funding for the North American
Development Bank to assist in the financing of water and wastewater
facilities; and
(7) explore the sale of excess electric power from
Texas to Mexico.
(b) The director shall work with the interagency work group
and with local governments, metropolitan planning organizations,
and other appropriate community organizations adjacent to or
located near the border between Texas and Mexico, and with
comparable entities in Mexican states adjacent to that border, to
address the unique planning and capacity needs of those areas. The
director shall assist those governments, organizations, and
entities in identifying and developing initiatives to address those
needs. Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
director shall submit to the presiding officer of each house of the
legislature a report of the director's activities under this
subsection during the preceding biennium.
(c) The director shall:
(1) work with private industry and appropriate
entities of Texas and the United States to require that low-sulfur
fuel be sold along highways in Texas carrying increased traffic
related to activities under the North American Free Trade
Agreement; and
(2) work with representatives of the government of
Mexico and the governments of those Mexican states bordering Texas
to increase the use of low-sulfur fuel.
Sec. 490B.008. INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP ON BORDER ISSUES.
(a) The interagency work group on border issues is created to:
(1) develop or update a process to allow agencies to
work together on issues that face border communities;
(2) discuss and coordinate programs and services
offered to border communities and residents of border communities;
and
(3) develop regulatory and legislative
recommendations to eliminate duplication and combine program
services.
(b) The interagency work group is composed of the heads of
the following agencies or their designees:
(1) the Texas Department of Agriculture;
(2) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs;
(3) the Texas Water Development Board;
(4) the Texas Department of Transportation;
(5) the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
(6) the Texas Workforce Commission;
(7) the Department of State Health Services;
(8) the Health and Human Services Commission;
(9) the General Land Office;
(10) the Texas Economic Development and Tourism
Office;
(11) the Office of State-Federal Relations;
(12) the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board;
(13) the attorney general's office;
(14) the secretary of state's office;
(15) the Department of Public Safety; and
(16) the Railroad Commission of Texas.
(c) The interagency work group shall meet at least once each
year to discuss border issues and to provide information showing
the impact each agency has on border communities for use in
developing border policy. In even-numbered years, the work group
shall meet at the biennial Texas-Mexico Border Summit hosted by the
commission under Section 490B.004(d).
(d) In fulfilling its duties, the work group shall consider
the effect of policies instituted by the federal government
impacting the Texas-Mexico border region.
Sec. 490B.009. BORDER INSPECTION, TRADE, AND
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The director shall
establish and appoint the members of the border inspection, trade,
and transportation advisory committee. The members must include
representatives of the Texas Department of Transportation, the
Department of Public Safety, and the Office of State-Federal
Relations and may include representatives of the United States
Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration, and other representatives of state and federal
agencies involved in border crossing issues. Chapter 2110 does not
apply to the size, composition, or duration of the advisory
committee.
(b) The director shall work with the advisory committee and
the interagency work group to:
(1) identify problems involved with border truck
inspections and related trade and transportation infrastructure;
and
(2) develop recommendations for addressing those
problems.
(c) The director shall work with the advisory committee and
appropriate agencies of Texas, the United States, and Mexico to
develop initiatives to mitigate congestion at ports of entry at the
Texas-Mexico border by conducting in Mexico inspections of trucks
entering Texas. In developing the initiatives, the director shall
give consideration to similar initiatives proposed or implemented
at the border of the United States and Canada.
(d) The director shall report quarterly to the presiding
officer of each house of the legislature on the findings and
recommendations of the advisory committee.
Sec. 490B.010. TRADE AND COMMERCE PLAN. (a) The director
shall develop, in conjunction with representatives of chambers of
commerce, metropolitan planning organizations adjacent to or
located near the border between Texas and Mexico, and private
industry groups, and with the advice of the interagency work group,
a comprehensive trade and commerce plan for the Texas-Mexico border
region designed to:
(1) increase trade by attracting new business
ventures;
(2) support expansion of existing industries; and
(3) address workforce training needs.
(b) The plan must cover 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year
periods.
(c) The director shall work with industries and communities
on both sides of the border to develop international industry
cluster initiatives to capitalize on resources available in
communities adjacent to each other across the border.
(d) The director shall conduct annual conferences of
interested persons, working with chambers of commerce and
universities of this state in the Texas-Mexico border region, and
shall host those conferences at no cost to the director. The
purposes of the conferences are to:
(1) make the trade and commerce plan public;
(2) report on updated findings and progress in
implementing the plan; and
(3) develop new international industry cluster
initiatives.
SECTION 5. Sections 411.0097(b) and (d), Government Code,
as added by Chapter 693 (S.B. 293), Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005, are amended to read as follows:
(b) To assist the department in carrying out this section,
the department shall contact the border affairs director appointed
[commerce coordinator designated] under Section 490B.007 [772.010]
and the mayors of each municipality in this state in which a port of
entry for land traffic is located.
(d) The department, in conjunction with the border affairs
director [commerce coordinator], shall develop short-range and
long-range plans, including recommendations to increase bilateral
relations with Mexico and expedite trade by mitigating delays in
border crossing inspections for northbound truck traffic. In
developing the plans, the department and the border affairs
director [coordinator] shall consider information obtained from
any meetings under Subsection (a). The department shall update the
plan biennially.
SECTION 6. Section 201.114(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The border affairs director appointed under Section
490B.007, Government Code, [coordinator] shall serve on the Border
Trade Advisory Committee as presiding officer. The commission
shall appoint the other members of the committee, which to the
extent practicable must include:
(1) the presiding officers, or persons designated by
the presiding officers, of the policy boards of metropolitan
planning organizations wholly or partly in the department's Pharr,
Laredo, Odessa, or El Paso transportation district;
(2) the person serving, or a person designated by the
person serving, in the capacity of executive director of each
entity governing a port of entry in this state;
(3) a representative each from at least two institutes
or centers operated by a university in this state that conduct
continuing research on transportation or trade issues; and
(4) the port director of the Port of Brownsville or the
port director's designee.
SECTION 7. Sections 201.207(b) and (d), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) To assist the department in carrying out this section,
the department shall contact the border affairs director appointed
[commerce coordinator designated] under Section 490B.007
[772.010], Government Code, and the mayors of each municipality in
this state in which a port of entry for land traffic is located.
(d) The department, in conjunction with the border affairs
director [commerce coordinator], shall develop short-range and
long-range plans, including recommendations to increase bilateral
relations with Mexico and expedite trade by mitigating delays in
border crossing inspections for northbound truck traffic. In
developing the plans, the department and the border affairs
director [coordinator] shall consider information obtained from
any meetings under Subsection (a). The department shall update the
plan biennially.
SECTION 8. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 772.010, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 429 (S.B. 1136), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1999;
(2) Section 772.010, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 1339 (H.B. 564), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1999;
(3) Section 772.010, Government Code, as reenacted and
amended by Chapter 1215 (H.B. 925), Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005;
(4) Sections 772.0101, 772.0102, and 772.011,
Government Code; and
(5) Section 201.114(a), Transportation Code.
SECTION 9. (a) Effective September 1, 2015:
(1) the Texas-Mexico Strategic Investment Commission
is abolished and the powers and duties of that commission are
transferred to the Texas-Mexico Commission in accordance with
Chapter 490B, Government Code, as amended by this Act; and
(2) the border commerce coordinator becomes the border
affairs director in accordance with Section 490B.007, Government
Code, as added by this Act.
(b) As soon as possible after the effective date of this
Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
representatives shall appoint members of the Texas-Mexico
Commission in accordance with Section 490B.003, Government Code, as
amended by this Act.
(c) All rules of the Texas-Mexico Strategic Investment
Commission are continued in effect as rules of the Texas-Mexico
Commission until superseded by a rule of the Texas-Mexico
Commission. An activity conducted by the Texas-Mexico Strategic
Investment Commission is considered to be an activity conducted by
the Texas-Mexico Commission.
(d) A reference in another law or an administrative rule to
the Texas-Mexico Strategic Investment Commission means the
Texas-Mexico Commission. A reference in another law or an
administrative rule to the border commerce coordinator means the
border affairs director.
(e) All money, records, property, and equipment in the
possession of the Texas-Mexico Strategic Investment Commission on
September 1, 2015, shall be transferred to the possession of the
Texas-Mexico Commission on September 1, 2015, or as soon as
possible after that date.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.