By: Montford, et al. S.B. No. 778
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the dedication of certain funds for the use of the
1-2 Texas Commission on the Arts.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. The heading for Subchapter B, Chapter 444,
1-5 Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES; FUNDING
1-7 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 444.024, Government Code,
1-8 is amended to read as follows:
1-9 (c) The commission by rule shall adopt equitable procedures
1-10 for the distribution of grants to recipients who reflect the
1-11 geographical, cultural, and ethnic diversity of the state's
1-12 population <Grants of money shall be made without regard to the
1-13 race, creed, sex, religion, or national origin of the applicant>.
1-14 SECTION 3. Section 444.025, Government Code, is amended to
1-15 read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 444.025. Donations; Appropriations; Audit. (a) The
1-17 commission may accept on behalf of the state donations of money,
1-18 property, and art objects<, and historical relics> as it determines
1-19 best further the orderly development of the artistic resources of
1-20 the state. Except as provided by Subsection (b), <All> money paid
1-21 to the commission under this chapter shall be deposited in the
1-22 Texas cultural endowment fund <state treasury>.
1-23 (b) The commission may solicit donations from an appropriate
1-24 source. A person may designate a donation as intended for the
2-1 Texas cultural endowment fund or the Texas Commission on the Arts
2-2 operating fund. If the person designates that a donation is
2-3 intended for a specific fund, the donation shall be deposited in
2-4 the designated fund.
2-5 (c) The commission by rule shall establish an acquisition
2-6 policy for accepting property and art objects.
2-7 (d) The legislature may make appropriations to the
2-8 commission to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
2-9 (e) <(c)> The financial transactions of the commission are
2-10 subject to audit by the state auditor in accordance with Chapter
2-11 321, Government Code.
2-12 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 444, Government Code, is
2-13 amended by adding Sections 444.026 through 444.028 to read as
2-14 follows:
2-15 Sec. 444.026. TEXAS CULTURAL ENDOWMENT FUND. (a) The Texas
2-16 cultural endowment fund is a trust fund outside the state treasury.
2-17 (b) The legislature may not appropriate money in the
2-18 endowment fund.
2-19 (c) Interest and income earned before September 1, 1994, on
2-20 money deposited in the endowment fund shall be deposited to the
2-21 credit of the endowment fund. Interest and income earned on or
2-22 after September 1, 1994, on money deposited in the endowment fund
2-23 shall be deposited to the credit of the endowment fund and then
2-24 transferred by the commission on September 1 of each year to the
2-25 Texas Commission on the Arts operating fund.
2-26 (d) This section is exempt from the application of Sections
2-27 403.094(h), 403.094(i), 403.095, and 404.071.
3-1 Sec. 444.027. TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS OPERATING FUND.
3-2 (a) The Texas Commission on the Arts operating fund is a special
3-3 fund in the state treasury.
3-4 (b) Money deposited to the credit of the operating fund may
3-5 be appropriated only to carry out the commission's powers and
3-6 duties under this chapter and for necessary administrative costs
3-7 incurred by the commission under this chapter.
3-8 (c) The operating fund is exempt from the application of
3-9 Sections 403.094(h), 403.094(i), 403.095, and 404.071. Interest
3-10 received from investments of money in the operating fund shall be
3-11 allocated monthly by the state treasurer to the operating fund.
3-12 Sec. 444.028. ENDOWMENT FUND INVESTMENT AND MANAGEMENT.
3-13 (a) The commission shall appoint investment managers for the
3-14 management and investment of the Texas cultural endowment fund by
3-15 contracting for professional investment management services with
3-16 one or more organizations that are in the business of managing
3-17 investments.
3-18 (b) In choosing and contracting for professional investment
3-19 management services and in continuing the use of an investment
3-20 manager, the commission shall act prudently and in the interest of
3-21 the beneficiaries of the endowment fund.
3-22 (c) In making and supervising investments of the endowment
3-23 fund, an investment manager and the commission shall discharge
3-24 their respective duties solely in the interest of the beneficiaries
3-25 of the fund:
3-26 (1) for the exclusive purposes of providing benefits
3-27 for the beneficiaries of the fund and defraying reasonable expenses
4-1 of administering this chapter;
4-2 (2) with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence
4-3 under the prevailing circumstances that a prudent person acting in
4-4 a like capacity and familiar with matters of the type would use in
4-5 the conduct of an enterprise with a like character and like aims;
4-6 (3) by diversifying the investments of the fund to
4-7 minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances
4-8 it is clearly prudent not to do so; and
4-9 (4) in accordance with the documents and instruments
4-10 governing the fund to the extent that the documents and instruments
4-11 are consistent with this section.
4-12 (d) To be eligible for appointment under this section, an
4-13 investment manager must be:
4-14 (1) registered under the Investment Advisors Act of
4-15 1940 (15 U.S.C. Section 80b-1 et seq.);
4-16 (2) a bank as defined by that Act that has a trust
4-17 department; or
4-18 (3) an insurance company qualified to perform
4-19 investment services under the laws of more than one state.
4-20 (e) In a contract made under this section, the commission
4-21 shall specify any policies, requirements, or restrictions,
4-22 including criteria for determining the quality of investments and
4-23 for the use of standard rating services, that the commission adopts
4-24 for investments of the endowment fund.
4-25 (f) A member of the commission is not liable for the acts or
4-26 omissions of an investment manager appointed under Subsection (a).
4-27 A member of the commission is not permitted or obligated to invest
5-1 or otherwise to manage any asset of the fund subject to management
5-2 by the investment manager.
5-3 (g) An investment manager appointed under Subsection (a)
5-4 shall acknowledge in writing the manager's fiduciary
5-5 responsibilities to the endowment fund.
5-6 (h) The commission may at any time and shall frequently
5-7 monitor the investments made by each investment manager for the
5-8 endowment fund. The commission may contract for professional
5-9 evaluation services to fulfill this requirement.
5-10 (i) The commission shall enter into an investment custody
5-11 account agreement designating a bank or a depository trust company
5-12 to serve as custodian for all assets allocated to or generated
5-13 under a contract for professional investment management services.
5-14 (j) Under a custody account agreement, the commission shall
5-15 require the designated custodian to perform the duties and assume
5-16 the responsibilities for the endowment fund that are performed and
5-17 assumed, in the absence of a contract, by the custodian of the
5-18 endowment fund. The custodian shall furnish to the commission,
5-19 annually or more frequently if required by commission rule, a sworn
5-20 statement of the amount of the endowment fund assets in the
5-21 custodian's custody.
5-22 (k) For purposes of this section, the beneficiaries of the
5-23 Texas cultural endowment fund are the persons who appreciate art,
5-24 artists, and arts organizations that benefit from the performance
5-25 of the commission's powers and duties under this chapter.
5-26 SECTION 5. Section 444.026, Government Code, as added by
5-27 Section 4 of this Act, is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read
6-1 as follows:
6-2 (e) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), the commission may not
6-3 transfer from the endowment fund the amount of interest or income
6-4 earned on money deposited in the endowment fund under Section
6-5 154.603(b)(1), Tax Code, that is equal to the amount of private
6-6 monetary donations made to the endowment fund during the fiscal
6-7 year in which the interest or income was earned. Interest or
6-8 income remaining in the endowment fund under this subsection
6-9 becomes part of the corpus of the endowment fund. This subsection
6-10 expires September 1, 2005.
6-11 SECTION 6. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
6-12 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq.,
6-13 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5m to
6-14 read as follows:
6-15 Sec. 5m. (a) The department shall design and provide for
6-16 the issuance of special Texas Commission on the Arts plates for
6-17 passenger cars and light commercial motor vehicles having a
6-18 manufacturer's rated carrying capacity of one ton or less.
6-19 (b) The license plates must bear the words "State of the
6-20 Arts" and be of a color, quality, and design approved by the Texas
6-21 Commission on the Arts.
6-22 (c) The department shall issue a license plate under this
6-23 section to a person who:
6-24 (1) applies to the county tax collector in the county
6-25 of the person's residence on a form provided by the department; and
6-26 (2) pays the fee prescribed by Subsection (e) of this
6-27 section.
7-1 (d) A person applying for a license plate under this section
7-2 may:
7-3 (1) have a license plate number assigned by the
7-4 department; or
7-5 (2) apply for a personalized prestige license plate
7-6 under Section 5c of this Act.
7-7 (e) The fee for issuance of a special license plate under
7-8 this section is $25 a year in addition to the regular registration
7-9 fee for the vehicle imposed by Section 5 of this Act and, if a
7-10 personalized prestige license plate is issued, in addition to the
7-11 fee imposed by Section 5c of this Act.
7-12 (f) The department shall deposit $20 of each fee collected
7-13 under this section in the state treasury to the credit of the Texas
7-14 Commission on the Arts operating fund established under Section
7-15 444.027, Government Code.
7-16 (g) The department shall deposit the remainder of each fee
7-17 collected under this section after deposit as provided by
7-18 Subsection (f) of this section in the state treasury to the credit
7-19 of the State Highway Fund to be used only to defray the cost of
7-20 administering this section.
7-21 (h) If a license plate issued under this section is lost,
7-22 stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the plate
7-23 was issued may obtain a replacement plate from the department by
7-24 paying a replacement fee of $5. If the owner of a vehicle for
7-25 which the plate was issued under this section disposes of the
7-26 vehicle during a registration year, the person shall return the
7-27 special license plate to the department.
8-1 (i) There is no limit to the number of passenger cars and
8-2 light commercial motor vehicles for which a person may apply for
8-3 issuance of a license plate under this section.
8-4 SECTION 7. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
8-5 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
8-6 (b) Section 5 of this Act takes effect September 1, 1993,
8-7 but only if the change in law proposed by H.B. No. 706, 73rd
8-8 Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, amending Section 154.603, Tax
8-9 Code, takes effect on or before that date. If H.B. No. 706 does
8-10 not take effect on or before September 1, 1993, Section 5 of this
8-11 Act has no effect.
8-12 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
8-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.