1-1     By:  Fraser                                             S.B. No. 17

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed April 11, 1997; April 14, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; May 1, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:

 1-5     Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 1, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the powers and duties of county hospital authorities.

 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 264, Health and Safety

1-11     Code, is amended by adding Section 264.032 to read as follows:

1-12           Sec. 264.032.  EMERGENCY BORROWING.  (a)  If the board

1-13     declares that funds are not available to meet lawfully authorized

1-14     obligations of the authority and that an emergency exists, the

1-15     board may borrow money at a rate of interest not to exceed the

1-16     maximum annual percentage rate allowed by law for authority

1-17     obligations at the time the loan is made.

1-18           (b)  To secure a loan, the board may pledge:

1-19                 (1)  revenues of the authority that are not pledged to

1-20     pay bonded indebtedness of the authority; or

1-21                 (2)  authority bonds that have been authorized but not

1-22     sold.

1-23           (c)  A loan for which bonds are pledged must mature not later

1-24     than the first anniversary of the date on which the loan is made.

1-25     A loan for which authority revenues are pledged must mature not

1-26     later than the fifth anniversary of the date on which the loan is

1-27     made.

1-28           (d)  The board may not spend money obtained from a loan under

1-29     this section for any purpose other than the purpose for which the

1-30     board declared an emergency and, if bonds are pledged to pay the

1-31     loan, for any purpose other than the purposes for which the pledged

1-32     bonds were authorized.

1-33           SECTION 2.  Section 264.030, Health and Safety Code, is

1-34     amended to read as follows:

1-35           Sec. 264.030.  SALE OF PROPERTY; GENERAL PROVISIONS.

1-36     (a)  The board may sell, through sealed bids or at a public

1-37     auction, real property acquired by gift or purchase that the board

1-38     determines is not needed for hospital purposes if the sale does not

1-39     violate:

1-40                 (1)  a trust indenture or bond resolution relating to

1-41     outstanding bonds of the authority; or

1-42                 (2)  an agreement between the authority and a nonprofit

1-43     corporation under Chapter 223.

1-44           (b)  If the board conducts the sale by sealed bids, the board

1-45     must provide notice of the sale under Section 272.001, Local

1-46     Government Code.

1-47           (c)  If the board conducts the sale by public auction, the

1-48     board must publish a notice of the sale once a week for three

1-49     consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the

1-50     county.  The notice must include a description of the property and

1-51     the date, time, and place of the auction.  The first notice must be

1-52     published not later than the 21st day before the date of the

1-53     auction.

1-54           (d)  This section does not affect the authority's powers

1-55     under Chapter 223.

1-56           (e)  This section does not apply to the sale or closing of a

1-57     hospital as provided in Section 264.031.

1-58           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-59           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-60     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-61     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-62     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-63     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.