SRC-TNM H.B. 722 75(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center H.B. 722 By: Alexander (Ogden) Education 5-4-97 Engrossed DIGEST Currently, Texas law allows a school district or county to levy a tax in order to maintain a junior college branch campus within its taxing jurisdiction. This is known as the junior college district branch campus maintenance tax. However, current law does not provide for the expansion of a branch campus maintenance tax area. Section 130.087(k), Education Code, requires tax monies generated in a branch campus maintenance tax area to be expended to support the branch campus located in that taxing jurisdiction. Current law does not permit a contiguous jurisdiction to pay a maintenance tax to support an existing branch campus maintenance tax area. Instead, a separate facility would have to be built or leased within the new taxing jurisdiction, even if a branch campus already exists within the same city, but within a different jurisdiction. H.B. 722 would allow a taxing jurisdiction contiguous to a jurisdiction that is already levying a branch campus maintenance tax to operate, maintain, and support that same campus through the levying of a branch campus maintenance tax. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 722 outlines provisions regarding the expansion of the areas where proceeds of the branch campus maintenance tax may be used. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 130.087(k), Education Code, to provide that the proceeds of the junior college district branch campus maintenance tax may be used to operate and maintain a junior college district branch campus and to support its programs and services only in the area of a jurisdiction contiguous to the jurisdiction levying the tax that also levies a junior college district branch campus maintenance tax to operate, maintain, and support the same junior college district branch campus. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.