1-1     By:  Serna (Senate Sponsor - Shapleigh)                H.B. No. 540

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 1997;

 1-3     May 12, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     International Relations, Trade, and Technology; May 15, 1997,

 1-5     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0;

 1-6     May 15, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-8                                   AN ACT

 1-9     relating to educational programs offered to colonia residents by

1-10     the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 2306.586(c), Government Code, is amended

1-13     to read as follows:

1-14           (c)  A self-help center may serve individuals and families of

1-15     low income and very low income by:

1-16                 (1)  providing assistance in obtaining loans or grants

1-17     to build a home;

1-18                 (2)  teaching construction skills necessary to repair

1-19     or build a home;

1-20                 (3)  providing model home plans;

1-21                 (4)  operating a program to rent or provide tools for

1-22     home construction and improvement for the benefit of property

1-23     owners in colonias who are building or repairing a residence or

1-24     installing necessary residential infrastructure;

1-25                 (5)  helping to obtain, construct, access, or improve

1-26     the service and utility infrastructure designed to service

1-27     residences in a colonia, including potable water, wastewater

1-28     disposal, drainage, streets, and utilities;

1-29                 (6)  surveying or platting residential property that an

1-30     individual purchased without the benefit of a legal survey, plat,

1-31     or record;

1-32                 (7)  providing credit and debt counseling related to

1-33     home purchase and finance;

1-34                 (8)  applying for grants and loans to provide housing

1-35     and other needed community improvements;

1-36                 (9)  providing other services that the self-help

1-37     center, with the approval of the department, determines are

1-38     necessary to assist colonia residents in improving their physical

1-39     living conditions, including help in obtaining suitable alternative

1-40     housing outside of a colonia's area; [and]

1-41                 (10)  providing assistance in obtaining loans or grants

1-42     to enable an individual or a family to acquire fee simple title to

1-43     property that originally was purchased under a contract for a deed,

1-44     contract for sale, or other executory contract; and

1-45                 (11)  providing monthly programs to educate individuals

1-46     and families on their rights and responsibilities as property

1-47     owners.

1-48           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-49           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-50     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-51     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-52     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-53     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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