By: Sims, et al. S.B. No. 699
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the farm and ranch finance program.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Section 59.024, Agriculture Code, is amended to
1-4 read as follows:
1-5 Sec. 59.024. APPLICATION; Eligibility. (a) To borrow money
1-6 from the fund, a person must submit an application to the authority
1-7 that contains an acceptable agricultural business plan for the land
1-8 proposed to be purchased that assures the authority that the
1-9 applicant intends to use the land for the primary purpose of
1-10 farming or ranching.
1-11 (b) To be eligible to borrow money from the fund, a person,
1-12 at the time of application, must provide evidence to the authority
1-13 that demonstrates that the person has at least three years of
1-14 experience relevant to the person's agricultural business plan for
1-15 the land proposed to be purchased and<:>
1-16 <(1) be a member of a household that has derived at
1-17 least 25 percent of its gross income from a farm or ranch for the
1-18 preceding three years; and>
1-19 <(2)> have a net worth of less than $500,000
1-20 <$250,000>.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 59.025, Agriculture Code, is amended to
1-22 read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 59.025. MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF LOAN <DOWNPAYMENT>. <(a)> A
1-24 loan under this chapter may not exceed the lesser of:
2-1 (1) $150,000; or
2-2 (2) an amount equal to 95 percent of the lesser of the
2-3 purchase price of the land or the land's appraised value under
2-4 Section 59.028<, less the down payment required under this
2-5 subsection. If the purchase price of land purchased with financial
2-6 assistance under this chapter is $150,000 or less, the minimum down
2-7 payment is equal to five percent of the purchase price. If the
2-8 purchase price exceeds $150,000, the minimum down payment is an
2-9 amount equal to the sum of five percent of the purchase price plus
2-10 the amount equal to the difference between the purchase price and
2-11 $150,000.>
2-12 <(b) The authority shall provide by rule for the period
2-13 during which and the manner in which the down payment provided for
2-14 under Subsection (a) of this section shall be paid to the
2-15 authority.>
2-16 <(c) If the sale is not consummated, the authority shall
2-17 refund the down payment to the borrower>.
2-18 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act does not
2-19 affect a loan made under Chapter 59, Agriculture Code, before the
2-20 effective date of this Act, without regard to whether the sale of
2-21 land for which the loan was made is consummated before the
2-22 effective date of this Act.
2-23 (b) If a down payment is paid to the Texas Agricultural
2-24 Finance Authority under Section 59.025, Agriculture Code, before
2-25 the effective date of this Act, and the sale of land for which the
2-26 down payment was paid is not consummated, the authority shall
2-27 refund the down payment to the borrower in accordance with
3-1 Subsection (c), Section 59.025, Agriculture Code, before its
3-2 amendment by this Act, and the former law is continued in effect
3-3 for this purpose.
3-4 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-5 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.