1-1 By: Madla, et al. S.B. No. 227 1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 16, 1997; January 22, 1997, 1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs and 1-4 Military Installations; April 9, 1997, reported adversely, with 1-5 favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 1-6 0; April 9, 1997, sent to printer.) 1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 227 By: Brown 1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-9 AN ACT 1-10 relating to a grant for a local area adversely affected by a 1-11 reduction in defense-related activity. 1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-13 SECTION 1. Subtitle F, Title 4, Government Code, is amended 1-14 by adding Chapter 486 to read as follows: 1-15 CHAPTER 486. ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL AREA AFFECTED BY 1-16 DEFENSE REDUCTION 1-17 Sec. 486.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-18 (1) "Defense worker" means: 1-19 (A) an employee of the United States Department 1-20 of Defense, including a member of the armed forces and a government 1-21 civilian worker; 1-22 (B) an employee of a government agency or 1-23 private business, or entity providing a department of defense 1-24 related function, who is employed on a defense facility; 1-25 (C) an employee of a business that provides 1-26 direct services or products to the department of defense and whose 1-27 job is directly dependent on defense expenditures; or 1-28 (D) an employee or private contractor employed 1-29 by the United States Department of Energy working on a defense or 1-30 department of energy facility in support of a department of defense 1-31 related project. 1-32 (2) "Defense worker job" means a department of defense 1-33 authorized permanent position or a position held or occupied by one 1-34 or more defense workers for more than 12 months. 1-35 (3) "Department" means the Texas Department of 1-36 Commerce. 1-37 (4) "Panel" means the Defense Economic Adjustment 1-38 Assistance Panel. 1-39 Sec. 486.002. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The 1-40 department shall administer and monitor the implementation of this 1-41 chapter. 1-42 (b) The department shall establish criteria and procedures 1-43 for evaluations and awarding grants. The department shall award 1-44 grants equitably based on evaluations so as to not 1-45 disproportionally favor one adversely affected defense-dependent 1-46 community over another. 1-47 (c) The department may use an amount equal to not more than 1-48 two percent of the total amount of grants authorized during each 1-49 biennium to administer this chapter and other law relating to 1-50 readjustment of defense-dependent communities. 1-51 (d) The department shall adopt rules necessary to carry out 1-52 the purposes of this chapter. 1-53 Sec. 486.003. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT. (a) A local 1-54 governmental entity is eligible for a grant under this chapter if 1-55 it is: 1-56 (1) a municipality or county that is an adversely 1-57 affected defense-dependent community; or 1-58 (2) a regional planning commission that has an 1-59 adversely affected defense-dependent community within its 1-60 boundaries. 1-61 (b) A municipality or county is an adversely affected 1-62 defense-dependent community if the department determines that: 1-63 (1) the municipality or county requires assistance 1-64 because of: 2-1 (A) the proposed or actual establishment, 2-2 realignment, or closure of a defense facility; 2-3 (B) the cancellation or termination of a United 2-4 States Department of Defense contract or the failure of the 2-5 department of defense to proceed with an approved major weapon 2-6 system program; 2-7 (C) a publicly announced planned major reduction 2-8 in department of defense spending that would directly and adversely 2-9 affect the municipality or county; or 2-10 (D) the closure or a significant reduction of 2-11 the operations of a defense facility as the result of a merger, 2-12 acquisition, or consolidation of a defense contractor operating the 2-13 facility; and 2-14 (2) the municipality or county is expected to 2-15 experience, during the period between the beginning of the federal 2-16 fiscal year during which an event described by Subdivision (1) is 2-17 finally approved and the date that the event is to be substantially 2-18 completed, a direct loss of: 2-19 (A) 2,500 or more defense worker jobs in any 2-20 area of the municipality or county that is located in an urbanized 2-21 area of a metropolitan statistical area; 2-22 (B) 1,000 or more defense worker jobs in any 2-23 area of the municipality or county that is not located in an 2-24 urbanized area of a metropolitan statistical area; or 2-25 (C) one percent of the civilian jobs in the 2-26 municipality or county. 2-27 Sec. 486.004. GRANT CRITERIA. (a) From money appropriated 2-28 for this purpose, the department may make a grant to an eligible 2-29 local governmental entity to allow the entity to meet a matching 2-30 money or investment requirement in order to receive from the United 2-31 States assistance that is provided to allow the local governmental 2-32 entity to respond to or recover from an event described by Section 2-33 486.003(b)(1). In addition, a grant may be made to an eligible 2-34 local governmental entity to match the entity's contribution for a 2-35 purpose described in Section 486.005 on a closed or realigned 2-36 defense facility. 2-37 (b) A grant may not be less than $50,000 or more than the 2-38 least of: 2-39 (1) 50 percent of the amount of matching money or 2-40 investment that the local governmental entity is required to 2-41 provide, subject to Subsection (c); 2-42 (2) 50 percent of the local governmental entity's 2-43 investment for purposes described in Section 486.005, in cases 2-44 where United States assistance is not available; or 2-45 (3) $2 million. 2-46 (c) If the local governmental entity demonstrates to the 2-47 department that, because of a limited budget, resources are not 2-48 available to provide 50 percent of the amount of matching money or 2-49 investment that the local governmental entity is required to 2-50 provide, the grant may be not more than 80 percent of the amount of 2-51 that matching money or investment requirement, but may not be more 2-52 than $2 million. 2-53 Sec. 486.005. USE OF PROCEEDS. (a) The local governmental 2-54 entity may use the proceeds of the grant for purchase of property 2-55 from the department of defense or its designated agent, new 2-56 construction, rehabilitation, or renovation of facilities or 2-57 infrastructure, or purchase of capital equipment or insurance. 2-58 (b) The local governmental entity may deliver the money to a 2-59 special district, development corporation, or other instrumentality 2-60 of the state or the local governmental entity for use as provided 2-61 by this chapter and other applicable law. 2-62 Sec. 486.006. DEFENSE ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE PANEL. 2-63 The department shall establish a defense economic adjustment 2-64 assistance panel within the department. The panel consists of at 2-65 least three and not more than five professional full-time employees 2-66 of the department appointed by the executive director of the 2-67 department. 2-68 Sec. 486.007. APPLICATION FOR GRANT. A local governmental 2-69 entity may apply for a grant under this chapter to the department 3-1 on a form prescribed by the department. The department shall 3-2 establish periodic application cycles to enable the panel and 3-3 department to evaluate groups of applicants in relation to each 3-4 other. 3-5 Sec. 486.008. EVALUATION OF APPLICATION. The panel shall 3-6 evaluate each application and assign the applicant a score based 3-7 on: 3-8 (1) the significance of the adverse effect within the 3-9 local governmental entity, including the number of jobs lost in 3-10 relation to the workforce in the local governmental entity's 3-11 jurisdiction and the effect on the area's economy and tax revenue; 3-12 (2) the extent to which the local governmental entity 3-13 has used its existing resources to promote local economic 3-14 development; 3-15 (3) the amount of any grant that the local 3-16 governmental entity has previously received under this chapter; 3-17 (4) the anticipated number of jobs to be created in 3-18 relation to the amount of the grant sought; and 3-19 (5) the extent to which the grant will affect the 3-20 region in which the local governmental entity is located. 3-21 Sec. 486.009. MAKING OF GRANT. The panel shall submit its 3-22 scores to the department's governing body. The governing body 3-23 shall use the scores to determine whether to make a grant to an 3-24 applicant. The governing body may not make a grant unless the 3-25 legislature has appropriated the money for the grant. 3-26 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 3-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-28 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-29 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-30 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 3-31 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 3-32 passage, and it is so enacted. 3-33 * * * * *