85R12128 JTS-F
By: Simmons H.B. No. 3825
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the application for federal highway and rail funds by a
regional mobility authority.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 370.033(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An authority, through its board, may:
(1) adopt rules for the regulation of its affairs and
the conduct of its business;
(2) adopt an official seal;
(3) study, evaluate, design, finance, acquire,
construct, maintain, repair, and operate transportation projects,
individually or as one or more systems, provided that a
transportation project that is subject to Subpart C, 23 C.F.R. Part
450, is:
(A) included in the plan approved by the
applicable metropolitan planning organization; and
(B) consistent with the statewide transportation
plan and the statewide transportation improvement program;
(4) acquire, hold, and dispose of property in the
exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties under this
chapter;
(5) enter into contracts or operating agreements with
a similar authority, another governmental entity, or an agency of
the United States, a state of the United States, the United Mexican
States, or a state of the United Mexican States;
(6) enter into contracts or agreements necessary or
incidental to its powers and duties under this chapter;
(7) cooperate and work directly with property owners
and governmental entities and officials to support an activity
required to promote or develop a transportation project;
(8) employ and set the compensation and benefits of
administrators, consulting engineers, attorneys, accountants,
construction and financial experts, superintendents, managers,
full-time and part-time employees, agents, consultants, and other
persons as the authority considers necessary or useful;
(8-a) participate in the state travel management
program administered by the comptroller for the purpose of
obtaining reduced airline fares and reduced travel agent fees,
provided that the comptroller may charge the authority a fee not to
exceed the costs incurred by the comptroller in providing services
to the authority;
(9) notwithstanding Sections 221.003 and 222.031 and
subject to Subsection [Subsections (j) and] (m), apply for,
directly or indirectly receive and spend loans, gifts, grants, and
other contributions for any purpose of this chapter, including the
construction of a transportation project, and receive and spend
contributions of money, property, labor, or other things of value
from any source, including the United States, a state of the United
States, the United Mexican States, a state of the United Mexican
States, the commission, the department, a subdivision of this
state, or a governmental entity or private entity, to be used for
the purposes for which the grants, loans, or contributions are
made, and enter into any agreement necessary for the grants, loans,
or contributions;
(10) install, construct, or contract for the
construction of public utility facilities, direct the time and
manner of construction of a public utility facility in, on, along,
over, or under a transportation project, or request the removal or
relocation of a public utility facility in, on, along, over, or
under a transportation project;
(11) organize a corporation under Chapter 431 for the
promotion and development of transportation projects;
(12) adopt and enforce rules not inconsistent with
this chapter for the use of any transportation project, including
tolls, fares, or other user fees, speed and weight limits, and
traffic and other public safety rules, provided that an authority
must consider the same factors that the Texas Turnpike Authority
division of the department must consider in altering a prima facie
speed limit under Section 545.354;
(13) enter into leases, operating agreements, service
agreements, licenses, franchises, and similar agreements with a
public or private party governing the party's use of all or any
portion of a transportation project and the rights and obligations
of the authority with respect to a transportation project;
(14) borrow money from or enter into a loan agreement
or other arrangement with the state infrastructure bank, the
department, the commission, or any other public or private entity;
and
(15) do all things necessary or appropriate to carry
out the powers and duties expressly granted or imposed by this
chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 370.033(j), Transportation Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 3. 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.