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.