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House Bill 2546 |
House Author: Isett et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Hinojosa |
Previous law provided that the Texas Military Preparedness Commission was within the office of the governor, required to report to the governor or the governor's designee, and independently subject to sunset review and abolishment. House Bill 2546 amends the Government Code to transfer the commission to the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office in the office of the governor and to require the commission to report to the executive director of the economic development office. The bill repeals a provision that specified a sunset date for the commission, resulting in the commission's sunset review taking place in conjunction with that of the economic development office. In addition to across-the-board sunset provisions relating to commission membership and training, the bill expands the commission's powers and duties to include advocating for the preservation and expansion of missions of reservists at Texas military installations.
House Bill 2546 transfers from the commission to the economic development office certain functions related to providing a loan of financial assistance to a defense community for a project to enhance the military value of a military facility in or near the community, for an economic development project to minimize the negative effects of certain defense base reductions on the community, or for a project to accommodate new or expanded military missions assigned to a military facility in or near the community. The bill transfers from the commission to the office the authorization to provide such a loan from the Texas military value revolving loan account and the requirement, if the commission determines that the project will produce the specified outcome, to analyze the creditworthiness of the defense community to determine the community's ability to repay the loan and to evaluate the feasibility of the project to ensure that the community has pledged sufficient revenue or taxes to repay the loan. The bill transfers other duties from the commission to the office, including notifying the Texas Public Finance Authority of certain loan information, requesting the authority to issue general obligation bonds, determining the amount and time of a bond issue, and assisting defense communities in obtaining financing for economic development projects that address future realignment or closure of a defense base in or near the community.
House Bill 2546 retains a requirement that the commission administer provisions relating to grant assistance for local areas affected by defense restructuring, but transfers the duty to monitor the implementation of such provisions from the commission to the office. The bill adds to the local governmental entities eligible for such a grant a political subdivision having the power of a defense base development authority and authorizes the office to assist a local governmental entity in applying for a grant. The bill adds the anticipated number of jobs to be retained in relation to the amount of the grant sought to the criteria used by the defense economic adjustment assistance panel in assigning an applicant a score to be used by the commission in determining whether to award a grant.