Amend HB 2577 by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering existing SECTIONS of the bill appropriately: SECTION ____. Subchapter K, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 2306.253 to read as follows: Sec. 2306.253. HOME BUYER EDUCATION PROGRAM. (a) The department shall develop and implement a statewide home buyer education program designed to provide information and counseling to prospective home buyers about the home buying process. The department shall implement the program by contracting with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service to provide the information and counseling on behalf of the department. (b) The department and the extension service shall develop the program in cooperation with the Texas Department of Human Services, the Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, the Texas Workforce Commission, and advocates of affordable housing. The department and the extension service shall implement the program through self-help centers when feasible. (c) The department and the extension service shall make full use of existing training and informational materials available from sources such as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the cooperative extension system, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. (d) To pay the extension service for the service's costs under the contract, the department may use money available to the department for housing purposes that the department is not prohibited from spending on the home buyer education program, including the amount of administrative or service fees the department receives from the issuance or refunding of bonds that exceeds the amount the department needs to pay its overhead costs in administering its bond programs. SECTION ____. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs shall begin to implement Section 2306.253, Government Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible and shall fully implement the home buyer education program with educational materials available in all counties not later than September 1, 1998.