74R8718 JRD-D
By Patterson H.B. No. 1167
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1167:
By Hawley C.S.H.B. No. 1167
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the farm and ranch finance program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 59.022(c), Agriculture Code, is amended
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 (c) The authority may set and collect fees the authority
1-7 considers reasonable and necessary to cover the expenses of
1-8 administering the program or considers in the best interest of the
1-9 program. Those fees shall be deposited in the state treasury to
1-10 the credit of the farm and ranch finance program <administrative
1-11 expense> fund. An applicant for financial assistance participating
1-12 in the program shall pay the costs of applying for, participating
1-13 in, and administering and servicing the program, in amounts the
1-14 authority considers reasonable and necessary. Any cost not paid by
1-15 an applicant shall be paid from the farm and ranch administrative
1-16 expense fund established under Section 59.012(c).
1-17 SECTION 2. Section 59.024, Agriculture Code, is amended to
1-18 read as follows:
1-19 Sec. 59.024. APPLICATION; Eligibility. (a) To borrow money
1-20 from the fund, a person must submit an application to the authority
1-21 that contains an acceptable agricultural business plan for the land
1-22 proposed to be purchased that assures the authority the applicant
1-23 intends to use the land for the primary purpose of farming or
1-24 ranching.
2-1 (b) To be eligible to borrow money from the fund, a person,
2-2 at the time of application, must:
2-3 (1) provide evidence to the authority that
2-4 demonstrates that the person has at least three years of experience
2-5 relevant to the person's agricultural business plan for the land
2-6 proposed to be purchased <be a member of a household that has
2-7 derived at least 25 percent of its gross income from a farm or
2-8 ranch for the preceding three years>; and
2-9 (2) have a net worth of less than $300,000 <$250,000>.
2-10 SECTION 3. Section 59.025, Agriculture Code, is amended to
2-11 read as follows:
2-12 Sec. 59.025. MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LOAN <DOWNPAYMENT>. <(a)> A
2-13 loan under this chapter may not exceed the lesser of:
2-14 (1) $150,000; or
2-15 (2) an amount equal to 95 percent of the lesser of the
2-16 purchase price of the land or the land's appraised value under
2-17 Section 59.028<, less the down payment required under this
2-18 subsection. If the purchase price of land purchased with financial
2-19 assistance under this chapter is $150,000 or less, the minimum down
2-20 payment is equal to five percent of the purchase price>. <If the
2-21 purchase price exceeds $150,000, the minimum down payment is an
2-22 amount equal to the sum of five percent of the purchase price plus
2-23 the amount equal to the difference between the purchase price and
2-24 $150,000.>
2-25 <(b) The authority shall provide by rule for the period
2-26 during which and the manner in which the down payment provided for
2-27 under Subsection (a) of this section shall be paid to the
3-1 authority.>
3-2 <(c) If the sale is not consummated, the authority shall
3-3 refund the down payment to the borrower.>
3-4 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act does not
3-5 affect a loan made under Chapter 59, Agriculture Code, before the
3-6 effective date of this Act, without regard to whether the sale of
3-7 land for which the loan was made is consummated before the
3-8 effective date of this Act.
3-9 (b) If a down payment is paid to the Texas Agricultural
3-10 Finance Authority under Section 59.025, Agriculture Code, before
3-11 the effective date of this Act, and the sale of land for which the
3-12 down payment was paid is not consummated, the authority shall
3-13 refund the down payment to the borrower in accordance with Section
3-14 59.025(c), Agriculture Code, before its amendment by this Act, and
3-15 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-16 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-17 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.