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House Bill 1515 |
House Author: Clardy et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-23 |
Senate Sponsor: Springer |
House Bill 1515 amends the Government Code to continue the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office (TEDTO) under the Texas Sunset Act until September 1, 2035. The bill provides for the winding up of the product development and small business incubator program and, among other revisions and provisions, does the following:
· authorizes TEDTO to establish advisory committees to make recommendations to TEDTO on programs, rules, and policies administered by TEDTO;
· requires TEDTO to develop a plan to engage with stakeholders to gather input and solicit feedback on the development of rules promulgated by TEDTO related to lending programs;
· provides for a biennial strategic tourism plan by TEDTO, rather than the annual plan as currently required;
· requires TEDTO to develop procedures for disbursement of money to borrowers and lending partners for access to capital programs and to develop documentation and recovery effort requirements of a participating partner for a claim against a reserve account;
· removes the requirement for the aerospace and aviation office to make specific recommendations to the legislature and governor regarding aerospace and aviation industries and exempts the size, composition, or duration of both the aerospace and aviation advisory committee and small business assistance advisory task force from statutory provisions relating to state agency advisory committees; and
· requires the TEDTO annual report on the activities of the Texas Economic Development Bank to include certain information relating to grants, loans, and designations awarded by the bank and for the small business disaster recovery loan program to include a general description of each small business for which an applicant was awarded a loan from Texas Economic Development Bank Fund during the preceding year.