86R6883 YDB-D
	By: Biedermann	H.B. No. 1836

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the preservation, maintenance, and restoration of the
	Alamo Cenotaph; granting the power of eminent domain.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter I, Chapter 31, Natural Resources
	Code, is amended by adding Section 31.4515 to read as follows:
	Sec. 31.4515.  PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE, AND RESTORATION
	OF ALAMO CENOTAPH. (a) The legislature finds that:
	(1)  as part of the Texas Centennial celebration, the
	44th Legislature:
	(A)  appropriated money to create and conduct
	celebrations commemorating the heroic period of early Texas history
	and celebrating a century of independence and progress for Texas as
	a republic and state; and
	(B)  created a Commission of Control for Texas
	Centennial celebrations to approve allocations of state
	appropriated money and to apply for federal money for the
	centennial celebrations to be spent under the direction and control
	of the commission;
	(2)  from federal money granted to the state, the
	Commission of Control commissioned construction of the Alamo
	Cenotaph for the benefit of the state and the public to honor heroes
	of the Alamo and other patriotic Texans; and
	(3)  on completion of the Alamo Cenotaph and its
	placement on the north plot of the Alamo Plaza, title to the
	cenotaph passed to the City of San Antonio conditioned on the city
	using the cenotaph as a memorial in honor of the heroes of the Alamo
	and only for that purpose.
	(b)  The land office has the power of eminent domain to
	acquire in the manner provided by Chapter 21, Property Code, any
	property necessary to preserve, maintain, and restore the Alamo
	Cenotaph and to carry out the purposes of this section, including
	the acquisition of the cenotaph and the land immediately underneath
	and adjacent to the cenotaph.
	(c)  Subject to Subsection (e), the land office is
	responsible for the preservation, maintenance, and restoration of
	the Alamo Cenotaph and has jurisdiction over the land immediately
	underneath and adjacent to the cenotaph. The land office shall
	determine and officially designate a reasonable amount of land as
	the land immediately underneath and adjacent to the cenotaph for
	purposes of this section.
	(d)  Any power or duty related to the Alamo Cenotaph formerly
	vested in another state agency or local governmental entity,
	including the City of San Antonio, is vested solely in the land
	office in accordance with this section.
	(e)  The governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house
	of representatives, and land commissioner must unanimously approve
	all major projects related to the preservation, maintenance, and
	restoration of the Alamo Cenotaph, including any project that
	requires movement of the cenotaph from its original location.  The
	cenotaph may not be moved to a location outside of the area that
	comprised the original Alamo Plaza.
	(f)  A local governmental entity may not exercise any control
	over the Alamo Cenotaph and the land immediately underneath and
	adjacent to the cenotaph or move the cenotaph from its original
	location in the Alamo Plaza.
	(g)  The land office shall allow the descendants of the
	heroes of the Alamo access to the Alamo Cenotaph each year on March
	6.
	(h)  A writ of mandamus and any other legal and equitable
	remedy is available to a party in interest to require the land
	office, a local governmental entity, and any other party to comply
	with this section.
	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, 2019.