1-1     By:  Truan                                            S.B. No. 1514

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1997; March 20, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on International Relations,

 1-4     Trade, and Technology; April 1, 1997, reported favorably by the

 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 1, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to coordinating colonia initiatives.

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

1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 402, Government Code, is

1-11     amended by adding Section 402.029 to read as follows:

1-12           Sec. 402.029.  COORDINATION OF COLONIA INITIATIVES.  (a)  In

1-13     this section, "colonia" means a geographic area located in a county

1-14     some part of which is located within 150 miles of the international

1-15     border of this state that:

1-16                 (1)  has a majority of the area's population composed

1-17     of individuals and families of low income and very low income,

1-18     based on the federal Office of Management and Budget poverty index;

1-19     and

1-20                 (2)  is an economically distressed area as defined by

1-21     Section 17.921, Water Code.

1-22           (b)  The following state agencies shall designate an officer

1-23     or employee of the agency to serve as the agency's coordinator of

1-24     colonia initiatives:

1-25                 (1)  the office of the attorney general;

1-26                 (2)  the Texas Education Agency;

1-27                 (3)  the Texas Department of Health;

1-28                 (4)  the Texas Department of Housing and Community

1-29     Affairs;

1-30                 (5)  the Texas Natural Resource Conservation

1-31     Commission;

1-32                 (6)  the Texas Water Development Board; and

1-33                 (7)  the Texas Workforce Commission.

1-34           (c)  Each agency's coordinator of colonia initiatives must be

1-35     the equivalent of a deputy executive director at the agency or have

1-36     direct or indirect authority over the equivalent of a deputy

1-37     executive director at the agency.

1-38           (d)  Each agency's coordinator of colonia initiatives shall

1-39     coordinate colonia initiatives within the agency and with the other

1-40     agencies listed in Subsection (b).

1-41           (e)  The attorney general's coordinator of colonia

1-42     initiatives shall preside over the group of coordinators for

1-43     purposes of interagency coordination.

1-44           (f)  The group of coordinators shall meet at least

1-45     semiannually at the call of the attorney general's coordinator or

1-46     according to a schedule established by the group.

1-47           (g)  Representatives of each state agency listed in

1-48     Subsection (b) who are assigned to duty at an office of the agency

1-49     near the international border of this state and whose assigned

1-50     duties include responsibility for some aspect of the agency's work

1-51     with colonias or with residents of colonias shall meet with each

1-52     other according to a schedule established by the representatives to

1-53     coordinate colonia initiatives at the local level.  Representatives

1-54     from the agencies' offices that serve the same county or counties

1-55     may meet together, or representatives from all of the agencies'

1-56     offices near the international border may meet together.

1-57           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-58     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-59     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-60     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-61     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

1-62     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

1-63     passage, and it is so enacted.