85R4225 ATP-F     By: Lucio S.B. No. 466       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to certain petitions filed with home-rule municipalities.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 277.004, Election Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 277.004.  EFFECT OF CITY CHARTER OR ORDINANCE. This   chapter preempts any [Any] requirements for the validity or   verification of petition signatures [in addition to those   prescribed by this chapter] that are prescribed by a home-rule city   charter provision or a city ordinance [are effective only if the   charter provision or ordinance was in effect September 1, 1985].          SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Local Government Code,   is amended by adding Sections 51.080, 51.081, 51.082, and 51.083 to   read as follows:          Sec. 51.080.  TIME TO FILE PETITION. (a) A petition   regarding an election on the repeal of an order, ordinance, or   resolution must be filed not later than the 90th day after the later   of the date on which the order, ordinance, or resolution:                (1)  finally passed; or                (2)  was published.          (b)  If the secretary of the municipality or other authority   responsible for verifying the signatures determines the petition   contains an insufficient number of valid signatures, the secretary   or other authority shall state all the grounds for invalidating a   signature.          (c)  If a petition is invalidated and later refiled, the   secretary of the municipality or other authority responsible for   verifying the signatures may not invalidate a subsequent petition   on grounds that existed but were not raised during the initial   determination of the petition's validity.          (d)  This section does not apply to a change in a provision of   the municipal charter.          Sec. 51.081.  CONTENT OF PETITION. (a) The secretary of   state shall prescribe a petition form that complies with state law   applicable to the filing of a petition with a municipality in   connection with an election.  The petition form must:                (1)  require only the provision of information required   under Chapter 277, Election Code; and                (2)  allow a petitioner to add the purpose of the   petition to the form.          (b)  A municipality shall make the petition form available on   the official website, if any, of the municipality.          (c)  The secretary of the municipality or other authority   responsible for verifying the signatures may not invalidate a   petition because the petition did not contain information that the   municipality's petition form under Subsection (a) failed to provide   or to require to be provided.          Sec. 51.082.  VALIDITY OF PETITION SIGNATURE. A signature on   a petition filed in connection with an election is valid if the   information provided with the signature as required by Section   277.002, Election Code, and other applicable law legibly provides   enough information to demonstrate that the signer:                (1)  is eligible to have signed the petition; and                (2)  signed the petition within the time prescribed by   law.          Sec. 51.083.  WEBSITE POSTING OF INFORMATION RELATING TO   PETITIONS. A municipality shall conspicuously post on its official   website, if any, information relating to citizen-initiated   petitions. This information must contain a link to the petition   form posted under Section 51.081(b).          SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   a petition filed on or after the effective date of this Act.  A   petition filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by   the law in effect when the petition was filed, and the former law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.