1-1 By: Patterson, Flores, Cook, et al. H.B. No. 993
1-2 (Senate Sponsor - Brown)
1-3 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 4, 1997;
1-4 April 8, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
1-5 Resources; April 28, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-6 vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 28, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the application for and use of the proceeds of loans
1-10 guaranteed by the Young Farmer Loan Guarantee Program.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 253.002, Agriculture Code, is amended to
1-13 read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 253.002. YOUNG FARMER LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM. (a) The
1-15 board shall administer a loan guarantee program that benefits
1-16 eligible applicants who desire to establish their first farming or
1-17 ranching operation.
1-18 (b) The board may grant to an eligible applicant a guarantee
1-19 of a loan made by a commercial lender for the purposes prescribed
1-20 by this chapter. The guarantee amount may not exceed the lesser of
1-21 $100,000 [$50,000] or 90 percent of the total loan amount.
1-22 (c) The aggregate amount guaranteed under this chapter may
1-23 not exceed twice the amount of current appropriations from the
1-24 young farmer loan guarantee account.
1-25 (d) A loan guarantee recipient may use proceeds from the
1-26 loan only for working capital for operating a farm or ranch [feed,
1-27 seed, fertilizer, livestock, poultry, farm or ranch equipment,
1-28 farm or ranch facilities, or leases of farmland or rangeland]. A
1-29 loan guarantee is voidable by the board if the recipient uses loan
1-30 proceeds for a purpose other than working capital for operating a
1-31 farm or ranch [those listed by this subsection]. The board shall
1-32 include this restriction as a condition in each loan guarantee
1-33 instrument executed under this chapter.
1-34 SECTION 2. Sections 253.003(a) and (c), Agriculture Code,
1-35 are amended to read as follows:
1-36 (a) An eligible applicant must present to the board
1-37 [department] for the board's review:
1-38 (1) a [five-year] plan for the applicant's proposed
1-39 farm or ranch that has been reviewed and approved by an individual
1-40 who:
1-41 (A) teaches agricultural science and technology
1-42 in the applicant's school district; or
1-43 (B) is a county extension agent-agriculture
1-44 program leader of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in the
1-45 area where the farm or ranch is located;
1-46 (2) a completed application for a loan from a
1-47 commercial lender on which the eligible applicant has indicated
1-48 that the loan proceeds will be used to implement the applicant's
1-49 [five-year] plan; and
1-50 (3) the signed statement of a loan officer of the
1-51 commercial lender that a loan guarantee is required for approval of
1-52 the loan application.
1-53 (c) The board [department] may charge a reasonable
1-54 application fee for processing an application filed under this
1-55 section.
1-56 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
1-57 applies only to a loan that is made on or after September 1, 1997.
1-58 A loan that is made before September 1, 1997, is governed by the
1-59 law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this
1-60 Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-61 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
1-62 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-63 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-64 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-2 * * * * *