1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 219
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 13, 1995; January 18, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 March 15, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 15, 1995,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 219 By: Armbrister
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to community assistance and economic development program
1-11 activities of certain river authorities; validating certain actions
1-12 and instruments of the river authorities.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of the 67th
1-15 Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's Texas
1-16 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 3. (a) This section applies only to a <Any> river
1-18 authority that <which> is engaged in the distribution and sale of
1-19 electric energy to the public.
1-20 (b) A river authority may sponsor and participate in an
1-21 economic development program intended to strengthen the economic
1-22 base and further the economic development of the state. The
1-23 program shall be within the territorial boundaries of the river
1-24 authority or within the river authority's electric or water service
1-25 areas. Participation in the program may not be conditioned on
1-26 receiving electric service from the authority.
1-27 (c) Each program must be established by formal action of the
1-28 governing body of the river authority. The governing body of the
1-29 river authority shall:
1-30 (1) establish the goals of the program;
1-31 (2) impose requirements on persons participating in
1-32 and receiving the benefits of the program; and
1-33 (3) provide restrictions, procedures, and budget
1-34 limits the governing body determines are necessary to ensure that
1-35 the governmental purposes of this section and the program are
1-36 achieved.
1-37 (d) A program under this section may involve grants or loans
1-38 of money, services, or property to a person engaged in an economic
1-39 development activity, including a public fire-fighting
1-40 organization, governmental body, nonprofit corporation, local or
1-41 regional development council, or other nonprofit or noncommercial
1-42 organization.
1-43 (e) The river authority may employ staff and expend its
1-44 resources to further an economic development program except the
1-45 river authority may not use money received from an ad valorem tax
1-46 or a general appropriation to further a program. The river
1-47 authority may apply for and receive money, grants, or other
1-48 assistance from any source to carry out an economic development
1-49 program under this section.
1-50 (f) The river authority and any other public or private
1-51 person may enter an agreement with respect to an economic
1-52 development program.
1-53 (g) A river authority that provides scholarships, grants,
1-54 loans, or financial assistance to a public fire-fighting
1-55 organization shall adopt guidelines for the determination of:
1-56 (1) eligibility for the assistance;
1-57 (2) the amount of loans, grants, or other assistance
1-58 the river authority may make available to a fire-fighting
1-59 organization; and
1-60 (3) the types of equipment, facilities, education, or
1-61 training for which the assistance may be used.
1-62 (h) A determination by the governing body of the river
1-63 authority that a program is intended and expected to carry out the
1-64 program's stated purposes is conclusive with respect to whether the
1-65 purposes of this section are satisfied.
1-66 (i) A river authority may not make receiving electric
1-67 service from the authority a condition for participation in or
1-68 receiving a benefit from an economic development program authorized
2-1 by this section. A river authority may not use an economic
2-2 development program to:
2-3 (1) promote fuel switching or the substitution of
2-4 electric power for another fuel or energy source; or
2-5 (2) provide an economic or other incentive to use
2-6 electric power to preferentially market the use of electric power
2-7 over another fuel or energy source.
2-8 (j) Subsection (i) of this section does not limit a power
2-9 granted a river authority by any other law, including other
2-10 sections of this Act.
2-11 (k) For purposes of this section, an economic development
2-12 program does not include the promotion of retail wheeling of
2-13 electric power and energy.
2-14 (l) In this section, an economic development program
2-15 includes any program designed to:
2-16 (1) encourage economic diversification;
2-17 (2) contribute to the health and development of a
2-18 community to improve the attractiveness of the community to public
2-19 and private enterprises; or
2-20 (3) improve the quality or quantity of services
2-21 essential for the development of viable communities and economic
2-22 growth, including services related to:
2-23 (A) education;
2-24 (B) transportation;
2-25 (C) public safety;
2-26 (D) recreation;
2-27 (E) health care;
2-28 (F) training;
2-29 (G) community planning; or
2-30 (H) employment <may employ staff and expend
2-31 resources to encourage economic development>.
2-32 SECTION 2. The legislature finds that the economic
2-33 development programs authorized by Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of
2-34 the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's
2-35 Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, are a specific
2-36 public purpose and governmental function of the specified river
2-37 authorities in accordance with:
2-38 (1) Section 52-a, Article III, Texas Constitution; and
2-39 (2) to the extent that the programs provide assistance
2-40 to public fire-fighting organizations, Section 51-a-1, Article III,
2-41 Texas Constitution.
2-42 SECTION 3. All proceedings, governmental acts, resolutions,
2-43 orders, bonds, contracts, and instruments relating to economic
2-44 development programs, as defined by Section 3, Chapter 245, Acts of
2-45 the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 717p, Vernon's
2-46 Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, of a river authority
2-47 engaged in the distribution and sale of electric energy to the
2-48 public that were adopted, approved, executed, issued, or ratified
2-49 by the river authority before the effective date of this Act are
2-50 validated, ratified, approved, and confirmed.
2-51 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-52 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-56 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-57 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-58 * * * * *