| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2017; March 28, 2017, read |
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| 3 | + | first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources & |
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| 4 | + | Economic Development; April 12, 2017, reported favorably by the |
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| 5 | + | following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 12, 2017, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 2 | 7 | | |
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| 3 | 8 | | |
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| 4 | 9 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 11 | | relating to a study of the fees charged by the Railroad Commission |
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| 7 | 12 | | of Texas. |
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| 8 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 14 | | SECTION 1. DEFINITION. In this Act, "commission" means the |
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| 10 | 15 | | Railroad Commission of Texas. |
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| 11 | 16 | | SECTION 2. STUDY. (a) The commission shall conduct a |
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| 12 | 17 | | study to evaluate the ability of the commission to fund its |
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| 13 | 18 | | operations using fees. |
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| 14 | 19 | | (b) In conducting the study under Subsection (a) of this |
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| 15 | 20 | | section, the commission shall: |
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| 16 | 21 | | (1) identify and evaluate the fees charged by the |
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| 17 | 22 | | commission; |
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| 18 | 23 | | (2) identify and evaluate the costs to the commission |
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| 19 | 24 | | associated with the administration of permits and other programs |
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| 20 | 25 | | for which the commission charges fees; |
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| 21 | 26 | | (3) recommend any appropriate changes to the fee |
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| 22 | 27 | | structure of the commission so that fees charged by the commission |
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| 23 | 28 | | are sufficient to fund the administration of the program the fees |
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| 24 | 29 | | are associated with; and |
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| 25 | 30 | | (4) evaluate the effects of any changes recommended |
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| 26 | 31 | | under Subdivision (3) of this subsection on the budget of the |
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| 27 | 32 | | commission. |
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| 28 | 33 | | SECTION 3. REPORT. Not later than September 1, 2018, the |
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| 29 | 34 | | commission shall submit to the legislature a written report |
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| 30 | 35 | | containing the findings of the study conducted under this Act and |
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| 31 | 36 | | the commission's recommendations for any legislation resulting |
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| 32 | 37 | | from the study. |
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| 33 | 38 | | SECTION 4. EXPIRATION. This Act expires September 1, 2019. |
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| 34 | 39 | | SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect |
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| 35 | 40 | | immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members |
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| 36 | 41 | | elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas |
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| 37 | 42 | | Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for |
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| 38 | 43 | | immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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