75R12708 KEL-F                           

         By Ehrhardt                                           H.B. No. 3531

         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3531:

         By Ehrhardt                                       C.S.H.B. No. 3531

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the uses for the Texas capital trust fund and the

 1-3     funding of and the uses for the housing trust fund.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 2201.002(a), Government Code, is amended

 1-6     to read as follows:

 1-7           (a)  The fund may be used only for [to finance]:

 1-8                 (1)  the acquisition, construction, repair,

 1-9     improvement, or equipping of a building by a state agency for a

1-10     state purpose;

1-11                 (2)  the acquisition of real or personal property

1-12     necessary for a state agency to take an action described by

1-13     Subdivision (1); [or]

1-14                 (3)  the administration of the asset management

1-15     division of the General Land Office; or

1-16                 (4)  a transfer under Section 2201.003(b) to the

1-17     housing trust fund created by Section 2306.201.

1-18           SECTION 2.  Section 2201.003(b), Government Code, is amended

1-19     to read as follows:

1-20           (b)  At the end of each fiscal year, the comptroller shall

1-21     transfer any unappropriated or unencumbered balance in the fund to

1-22     the credit of the housing trust fund [biennium the unencumbered

1-23     balance of the fund in excess of $500 million shall be transferred

1-24     to the credit of the general revenue fund].

 2-1           SECTION 3.  Section 2306.202, Government Code, is amended to

 2-2     read as follows:

 2-3           Sec. 2306.202.  USE OF HOUSING TRUST FUND.  (a)  Except as

 2-4     provided by Subsection (c), the [The] department, through the

 2-5     housing finance division, shall use the housing trust fund to

 2-6     provide loans, grants, or other comparable forms of assistance to

 2-7     local units of government, public housing authorities, nonprofit

 2-8     organizations, and income-eligible individuals, families, and

 2-9     households to finance, acquire, rehabilitate, and develop decent,

2-10     safe, and sanitary housing.

2-11           (b)  Use of the fund for purposes of Subsection (a) is

2-12     limited to providing:

2-13                 (1)  assistance for individuals and families of low and

2-14     very low income; and

2-15                 (2)  technical assistance and capacity building to

2-16     nonprofit organizations engaged in developing housing for

2-17     individuals and families of low and very low income.

2-18           (c)  The department shall use the money in the housing trust

2-19     fund derived from the activities of the Texas Department of Mental

2-20     Health and Mental Retardation and transferred to the fund under

2-21     Section 2201.003(b) only to develop and implement housing programs

2-22     for persons with mental illnesses or mental retardation.

2-23           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-24           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-26     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-27     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.