By Serna                                         H.B. No. 540

      75R2510 MLS-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to educational programs offered to colonia residents by

 1-3     the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 2306.586(c), Government Code, is amended

 1-6     to read as follows:

 1-7           (c)  A self-help center may serve individuals and families of

 1-8     low income and very low income by:

 1-9                 (1)  providing assistance in obtaining loans or grants

1-10     to build a home;

1-11                 (2)  teaching construction skills necessary to repair

1-12     or build a home;

1-13                 (3)  providing model home plans;

1-14                 (4)  operating a program to rent or provide tools for

1-15     home construction and improvement for the benefit of property

1-16     owners in colonias who are building or repairing a residence or

1-17     installing necessary residential infrastructure;

1-18                 (5)  helping to obtain, construct, access, or improve

1-19     the service and utility infrastructure designed to service

1-20     residences in a colonia, including potable water, wastewater

1-21     disposal, drainage, streets, and utilities;

1-22                 (6)  surveying or platting residential property that an

1-23     individual purchased without the benefit of a legal survey, plat,

1-24     or record;

 2-1                 (7)  providing credit and debt counseling related to

 2-2     home purchase and finance;

 2-3                 (8)  applying for grants and loans to provide housing

 2-4     and other needed community improvements;

 2-5                 (9)  providing other services that the self-help

 2-6     center, with the approval of the department, determines are

 2-7     necessary to assist colonia residents in improving their physical

 2-8     living conditions, including help in obtaining suitable alternative

 2-9     housing outside of a colonia's area; [and]

2-10                 (10)  providing assistance in obtaining loans or grants

2-11     to enable an individual or a family to acquire fee simple title to

2-12     property that originally was purchased under a contract for a deed,

2-13     contract for sale, or other executory contract; and

2-14                 (11)  providing monthly programs to educate individuals

2-15     and families on their rights and responsibilities as property

2-16     owners.

2-17           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-18           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.