By Ehrhardt                                          H.C.R. No. 140

         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-1           WHEREAS, Access to affordable and livable housing is

 1-2     important to all citizens of Texas and will become increasingly

 1-3     critical for low and very low income Texans as the state's

 1-4     population increases; and

 1-5           WHEREAS, Recent actions by the federal government have

 1-6     resulted in a reduction of federal funds allocated to low income

 1-7     housing and will likely shift much of the power, authority and

 1-8     responsibility to oversee and implement housing programs to state

 1-9     and local entities; and

1-10           WHEREAS, The Texas Department of Housing and Community

1-11     Affairs (TDHCA) has a statutory mandate to serve low and very low

1-12     income individuals and families who are in need of housing

1-13     assistance; and

1-14           WHEREAS, With approximately 93 percent of TDHCA's funding

1-15     coming from federal sources, it is apparent that the department

1-16     will have to perform its mission with decreased federal funding;

1-17     and

1-18           WHEREAS, New and innovative solutions will have to be

1-19     developed by TDHCA to fulfill the mission of assisting low and very

1-20     low income Texans, and current programs and procedures will need to

1-21     be streamlined to ensure maximum efficiency; now, therefore, be it

 2-1           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

 2-2     hereby requests the comptroller of public accounts to conduct a

 2-3     performance audit of the Texas Department of Housing and Community

 2-4     Affairs and the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation to

 2-5     determine how the agency and the agency's nonprofit corporation can

 2-6     better carry out the state's housing mission; and, be it further

 2-7           RESOLVED, That the comptroller of public accounts  is

 2-8     requested to review and provide recommendations to the Legislature

 2-9     in the following areas:  determine the income levels, geographic

2-10     location, demographic characteristics and special needs of

2-11     individuals and families assisted through the programs of the

2-12     department relative to the levels of housing needs of these people

2-13     and regions in the state's population; 2) identify actions the

2-14     department should take to offset the effects of federal budget

2-15     cuts, devolution of responsibility and potential losses of existing

2-16     subsidized housing; 3) recommend innovative programs and funding

2-17     resources which can be adopted from other states to provide housing

2-18     assistance to poor families in Texas; 4) propose safeguards,

2-19     procedures and controls which should be applied to the programs of

2-20     the department to ensure the fiscal and programmatic integrity of

2-21     housing programs; and 5) identify any changes which need to be made

2-22     to existing programs and policies to ensure that the department

2-23     fulfills its legislative priorities; and, be it further

2-24           RESOLVED, That the comptroller of public accounts is

2-25     requested to provide the results of the performance audit to the

 3-1     Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives

 3-2     by June 1, 1998; and, be it further

 3-3           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official

 3-4     copy of this resolution to the comptroller of public accounts and

 3-5     to the executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and

 3-6     Community Affairs.