By Armbrister S.B. No. 219
74R2183 JJT-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to community assistance and economic development program
1-3 activities of certain river authorities; validating certain actions
1-4 and instruments of the river authorities.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of the 67th
1-7 Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's Texas
1-8 Civil Statutes), as added by Section 2, Chapter 1140, Acts of the
1-9 71st Legislature, Regular Session, 1989, is amended to read as
1-10 follows:
1-11 Sec. 3. (a) Any river authority which is engaged in the
1-12 distribution and sale of electric energy to the public may sponsor
1-13 and participate in an economic development program intended to
1-14 strengthen the economic base and further the economic development
1-15 of the state. The program may be within or outside the areas the
1-16 authority serves.
1-17 (b) Each program must be established by formal action of the
1-18 governing body of the river authority. The governing body of the
1-19 river authority shall:
1-20 (1) establish the goals of the program;
1-21 (2) impose requirements on persons participating in
1-22 and receiving the benefits of the program; and
1-23 (3) provide restrictions, procedures, and budget
1-24 limits the governing body determines are necessary to ensure that
2-1 the governmental purposes of this section and the program are
2-2 achieved.
2-3 (c) A program under this section may involve grants or loans
2-4 of money, services, or equipment to a person engaged in an economic
2-5 development activity, including a public fire-fighting
2-6 organization, governmental body, nonprofit corporation, local or
2-7 regional development council, or other nonprofit or noncommercial
2-8 organization. The river authority may provide assistance to a
2-9 for-profit entity if the assistance is necessary or appropriate to
2-10 carry out an economic development program consistent with the
2-11 purposes of this section.
2-12 (d) The river authority may employ staff and expend its
2-13 resources to further an economic development program except the
2-14 river authority may not use money received from an ad valorem tax
2-15 or a general appropriation to further a program. The river
2-16 authority may apply for and receive money, grants, or other
2-17 assistance from any source to carry out an economic development
2-18 program under this section.
2-19 (e) The river authority and any other public or private
2-20 person may enter an agreement with respect to an economic
2-21 development program.
2-22 (f) A river authority that provides scholarships, grants,
2-23 loans, or financial assistance to a public fire-fighting
2-24 organization shall adopt guidelines for the determination of:
2-25 (1) eligibility for the assistance;
2-26 (2) the amount of loans, grants, or other assistance
2-27 the river authority may make available to a fire-fighting
3-1 organization; and
3-2 (3) the types of equipment, education, or training for
3-3 which the assistance may be used.
3-4 (g) A determination by the governing body of the river
3-5 authority that a program is intended and expected to carry out the
3-6 program's stated purposes is conclusive with respect to whether the
3-7 purposes of this section are satisfied.
3-8 (h) In this section, an economic development program
3-9 includes a community assistance program, privatization program, or
3-10 any other program designed to:
3-11 (1) encourage economic diversification;
3-12 (2) maintain or expand employment;
3-13 (3) train persons;
3-14 (4) eliminate conditions detrimental to the public
3-15 health, safety, or welfare;
3-16 (5) improve the quality or quantity of services
3-17 essential for the development of viable communities and economic
3-18 growth, including services related to:
3-19 (A) education;
3-20 (B) transportation;
3-21 (C) public safety;
3-22 (D) recreation; or
3-23 (E) health care; or
3-24 (6) contribute to the health and development of a
3-25 community to improve the attractiveness of the community to public
3-26 and private enterprises <employ staff and expend resources to
3-27 encourage economic development>.
4-1 SECTION 2. The legislature finds that the economic
4-2 development programs authorized by Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of
4-3 the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's
4-4 Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, are a specific
4-5 public purpose and governmental function of the specified river
4-6 authorities in accordance with:
4-7 (1) Section 52-a, Article III, Texas Constitution; and
4-8 (2) to the extent that the programs provide assistance
4-9 to public fire-fighting organizations, Section 51-a-1, Article III,
4-10 Texas Constitution.
4-11 SECTION 3. All proceedings, governmental acts, resolutions,
4-12 orders, bonds, contracts, and instruments relating to economic
4-13 development programs, as defined by Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of
4-14 the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's
4-15 Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, of a river authority
4-16 engaged in the distribution and sale of electric energy to the
4-17 public that were adopted, approved, executed, issued, or ratified
4-18 by the river authority before the effective date of this Act are
4-19 validated, ratified, approved, and confirmed.
4-20 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-26 passage, and it is so enacted.