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Panel backs voluntary driver-license donations to fund nonprofits aiding DPS officers
Summary
House Bill 3,033 would require the Department of Public Safety to establish a grant program funded by voluntary donations at driver-license and ID renewal to support nonprofits that help DPS employees killed or injured in the line of duty; the bill drew support from the DPS Officers Association and other foundations.
The Senate Finance Committee considered House Bill 3,033, which would require the Texas Department of Public Safety to establish and administer a grant program to provide financial support to eligible nonprofit organizations that assist DPS employees who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their families.
Senator Kelly King, presenting the measure, said the program would be funded by voluntary donations: drivers would be offered an option to give $3 or more when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or ID. “The funds for this program will be used to provide assistance for DPS employees and their families and to fund memorial highway signs for DPS employees who have been killed in the line of duty,” King said, noting signs can cost more than $40,000.
Clay Taylor, executive director of the DPS Officers Association, told senators that the DPS Troopers Foundation — a 501(c)(3) established by the DPSOA in 2010 — has provided more than $3.5 million in assistance over the past decade, including scholarships, emergency aid and memorial sign funding. Taylor described recent assistance after the Ector County line-of-duty death of Trooper Ramirez Vasquez: the foundation provided more than $27,000 in funeral-related costs and helped raise and contribute over $69,000 to the family.
Taylor and other witnesses urged the committee to adopt the bill; senators later voted to report House Bill 3,033 favorably to the full Senate. The committee’s roll call recorded unanimous or near-unanimous approval as recorded in the committee minutes.
