By Black H.B. No. 1789 74R7137 CBH-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the use of unclaimed money of a local telephone 1-3 exchange company to fund rural scholarships. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 74, Property Code, is 1-6 amended by adding Section 74.3011 to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 74.3011. DELIVERY OF MONEY TO RURAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND. 1-8 (a) Notwithstanding and in addition to any other provision of this 1-9 chapter or other law, a local telephone exchange company may 1-10 deliver reported money to a scholarship fund for rural students 1-11 instead of delivering the money to the state treasurer as 1-12 prescribed by Section 74.301. 1-13 (b) A local telephone exchange company may deliver the money 1-14 under this section only to a scholarship fund established by one or 1-15 more local telephone exchange companies in this state to enable 1-16 needy students from rural areas to attend college, technical 1-17 school, or another postsecondary educational institution. 1-18 (c) A local telephone exchange company shall file with the 1-19 state treasurer a verification of money delivered under this 1-20 section that complies with Section 74.302. 1-21 (d) A claim for money delivered to a scholarship fund under 1-22 this section must be filed with the local telephone exchange 1-23 company that delivered the money. The local telephone exchange 1-24 company shall forward the claim to the administrator of the 2-1 scholarship fund to which the money was delivered. The scholarship 2-2 fund shall pay the claim if the fund determines in good faith that 2-3 the claim is valid. A person aggrieved by a claim decision may 2-4 file a suit against the fund in a district court in the county in 2-5 which the administrator of the scholarship fund is located in 2-6 accordance with Section 74.506. 2-7 (e) The state treasurer shall prescribe forms and procedures 2-8 governing this section, including forms and procedures relating to: 2-9 (1) notice of presumed abandoned property; 2-10 (2) delivery of reported money to a scholarship fund; 2-11 and 2-12 (3) filing of a claim. 2-13 (f) In this section, "local telephone exchange company" 2-14 means a telecommunications utility certificated to provide local 2-15 exchange service within the state and that is a telephone 2-16 cooperative or has fewer than 50,000 access lines in service in 2-17 this state. 2-18 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995. 2-19 (b) Section 74.3011, Property Code, as added by this Act, 2-20 applies only to money that a local telephone exchange company would 2-21 otherwise be required to deliver to the state treasurer on or after 2-22 the effective date of this Act. Money that was required to be 2-23 delivered to the state treasurer before the effective date of this 2-24 Act is governed by the law in effect when the money was required to 2-25 be delivered, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. 2-26 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.