85R7925 AJZ-D
By: Thierry H.B. No. 1511
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing certain election information on the highway
changeable message sign system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 544.013, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to
read as follows:
(b) The Texas Department of Transportation in cooperation
with local governments shall actively manage a system of changeable
message signs located on highways under the jurisdiction of the
department to:
(1) mitigate traffic congestion by providing current
information to the traveling public, including information about
traffic incidents, weather conditions, road construction, and
alternative routes when applicable; and
(2) provide information regarding the date of an
election held statewide and the associated voter registration
deadline for the election.
(c) The Texas Department of Transportation, in consultation
with the secretary of state, shall establish a plan to provide the
information described by Subsection (b)(2) using the system of
changeable message signs managed under this section. The plan
established under this subsection must require the information
described by Subsection (b)(2) to be posted on the system in English
and Spanish for the following periods:
(1) two days before voting begins in the election
through the end of election day; and
(2) two days before the deadline for voter
registration through the end of the last day of voter registration
for the election.
(d) The plan established under Subsection (c) must also
require that the information described by Subsection (b)(2) not be
posted on a changeable message sign if the posting would interfere
with another safety or emergency alert, including an alert
providing information described by Subsection (b)(1).
SECTION 2. 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, 2017.