88R10367 MP-D
 
  By: Martinez H.B. No. 5063
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the issuance of state parklands passports to and a
  waiver of certain entrance or admission fees to state parks and
  state historical sites for certain family members of a person who
  died while serving in the United States armed forces.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 442, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 442.00515 to read as follows:
         Sec. 442.00515.  FEE WAIVER. (a)  The executive director
  shall waive the entrance fee for a historic site under the
  commission's jurisdiction for an individual who is eligible to
  receive a gold star lapel button pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section 1126.
         (b)  The commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
  a fee waiver under this section.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 13.018(a) and (c), Parks and Wildlife
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The following people may apply to the department for a
  state parklands passport:
               (1)  a resident of this state who is 65 years old or
  over who has resided in the state for six consecutive months
  preceding the date of application for a parklands passport, a
  member of the United States armed forces on active duty who is 65
  years old or over, or any other individual in a category that the
  commission by rule designates as a resident of this state who is 65
  years old or over;  
               (2)  a veteran of the armed services of the United
  States who, as a result of military service, has a
  service-connected disability, as defined by the Veterans'
  Administration, consisting of the loss of the use of a lower
  extremity or of a 60 percent disability rating and who is receiving
  compensation from the United States because of the disability;
  [and]
               (3)  an individual who has a physical or mental
  impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life
  activities of the individual; and
               (4)  an individual who is eligible to receive a gold
  star lapel button pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section 1126.
         (c)  The holder of a state parklands passport issued on or
  before August 31, 1995, a person whose birth date is before
  September 1, 1930, or a person [veteran] described by Subsection
  (a)(2) or (a)(4) is entitled to enter any state park without payment
  of an entrance or admission fee.  When a fee is charged by the
  department for entrance of a vehicle into a state park, the vehicle
  of the holder of a state parklands passport is exempt from the fee
  when the holder is present.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.