By: Harris, Ike S.B. No. 1087
73R3837 CAS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the linked deposit program to encourage commercial
1-3 lending for certain agricultural purposes.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 44.001(3) and (5), Agriculture Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (3) "Eligible borrower" means a person who is in the
1-8 business or entering the business of:
1-9 (A) processing and marketing agricultural crops
1-10 in this state; <or>
1-11 (B) producing alternative agricultural crops in
1-12 this state; or
1-13 (C) producing agricultural crops in this state
1-14 the production of which has declined markedly because of natural
1-15 disasters.
1-16 (5) "Linked deposit" means a time deposit governed by
1-17 a written deposit agreement between the state and an eligible
1-18 lending institution that provides:
1-19 (A) that the eligible lending institution pay
1-20 interest on the deposit at a rate that is not less than the greater
1-21 of:
1-22 (i) the current market rate of a United
1-23 States treasury bill or note of comparable maturity minus two
1-24 percent; or
2-1 (ii) 1.5 percent;
2-2 (B) that the state not withdraw any part of the
2-3 deposit before the expiration of a period set by a written advance
2-4 notice of the intention to withdraw; and
2-5 (C) that the eligible lending institution agree
2-6 to lend the value of the deposit to an eligible borrower at a
2-7 maximum rate that is the current market rate of a United States
2-8 treasury bill or note of comparable maturity plus four percent.
2-9 SECTION 2. Sections 44.007(a) and (b), Agriculture Code, are
2-10 amended to read as follows:
2-11 (a) The commissioner shall establish a linked deposit
2-12 program to encourage commercial lending for the enhanced
2-13 production, processing, and marketing of certain agricultural crops
2-14 and for the purchase of water conservation equipment for
2-15 agricultural production purposes.
2-16 (b) The commissioner shall promulgate rules for the loan
2-17 portion of the linked deposit program. The rules must include:
2-18 (1) a list of the categories of crops customarily
2-19 grown in Texas;
2-20 (2) a <and another> list of crops that are alternative
2-21 agricultural crops;
2-22 (3) a list of crops the production of which has
2-23 declined markedly because of natural disasters; and
2-24 (4) identification of the types of equipment
2-25 considered as water conservation equipment for agricultural
2-26 production purposes.
2-27 SECTION 3. Section 44.010(b), Agriculture Code, is amended
3-1 to read as follows:
3-2 (b) The maximum amount of a loan under this chapter to
3-3 process and market Texas agricultural crops is $500,000 <$250,000>.
3-4 The maximum amount of a loan under this chapter to produce
3-5 alternative agricultural crops in this state is $250,000
3-6 <$100,000>. The maximum amount of a loan under this chapter to
3-7 purchase water conservation equipment for agricultural production
3-8 purposes is $250,000.
3-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-15 passage, and it is so enacted.