By:  Rodriguez                                        H.B. No. 1089
       73R3525 RJA-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to investment of certain funds in entities doing business
    1-3  in Northern Ireland.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  DEFINITION.  In this Act "investing board" means
    1-6  the Veterans' Land Board, board of trustees of the Texas growth
    1-7  fund, Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, and the
    1-8  board of trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
    1-9        SECTION 2.  APPLICATION.  This Act applies only to money in
   1-10  the veterans' land fund, veterans' housing assistance fund,
   1-11  permanent university fund, and Texas growth fund, and funds of the
   1-12  Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
   1-13        SECTION 3.  LIST; DETERMINATION.  (a)  Not later than
   1-14  December 31 of each year, an investing board shall:
   1-15              (1)  compile a list of corporations that, directly or
   1-16  through a subsidiary, do business in Northern Ireland and in the
   1-17  stock or obligations of which the board has invested funds; and
   1-18              (2)  determine whether each of those corporations has
   1-19  taken affirmative action during the preceding year to eliminate
   1-20  religious or ethnic discrimination practiced by the government of
   1-21  Northern Ireland  or its agencies, instrumentalities, or national
   1-22  corporations.
   1-23        (b)  In making a determination under Subsection (a)(2) of
   1-24  this section, the investing board shall consider whether the
    2-1  corporation has taken substantial action during the preceding year
    2-2  designed to achieve the goals of the MacBride principles, which
    2-3  are:
    2-4              (1)  increasing representation of persons from
    2-5  underrepresented religious groups at all levels of its work force,
    2-6  including managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical, and
    2-7  technical jobs;
    2-8              (2)  providing adequate security, at the workplace and
    2-9  while traveling to and from work, for employees who are members of
   2-10  minority religious groups;
   2-11              (3)  banning provocative religious or political emblems
   2-12  from the workplace;
   2-13              (4)  publicly advertising all job openings and special
   2-14  recruiting efforts to attract applicants from underrepresented
   2-15  religious groups;
   2-16              (5)  providing that layoff, recall, and termination
   2-17  procedures do not favor workers who are members of particular
   2-18  religious groups;
   2-19              (6)  abolishing job reservations, apprenticeship
   2-20  restrictions, and differential employment criteria that
   2-21  discriminate on the basis of religious or ethnic origin;
   2-22              (7)  developing new training programs and expanding
   2-23  existing programs to prepare current employees who are members of
   2-24  minority religious groups for skilled jobs;
   2-25              (8)  establishing procedures to assess, identify, and
   2-26  recruit employees who are members of minority religious groups and
   2-27  who have potential for advancement; and
    3-1              (9)  appointing senior management employees to oversee
    3-2  affirmative action efforts and the setting of timetables for
    3-3  carrying out affirmative  action principles.
    3-4        SECTION 4.  INVESTMENT POLICY.  An investing board shall make
    3-5  any investments that it makes in the stock or obligations of a
    3-6  corporation that does business in Northern Ireland in a manner
    3-7  that:
    3-8              (1)  is consistent with sound investment policy; and
    3-9              (2)  the board determines will encourage the
   3-10  corporation to pursue a policy of affirmative action to eliminate
   3-11  religious and ethnic discrimination in the workplace in Northern
   3-12  Ireland.
   3-13        SECTION 5.  SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS.  Whenever feasible, the
   3-14  investing board shall sponsor or support shareholder resolutions
   3-15  designed to encourage corporations in which the board has invested
   3-16  to pursue a policy of affirmative action to eliminate religious and
   3-17  ethnic discrimination in the workplace in Northern Ireland.
   3-18        SECTION 6.  DIVESTMENT NOT REQUIRED.  This Act does not
   3-19  require an investing board to divest itself of an investment made
   3-20  before the effective date of this Act.
   3-21        SECTION 7.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
   3-22  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-26  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-27  passage, and it is so enacted.