LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                                   Austin, Texas
         
                                   FISCAL NOTE
                               75th Regular Session
         
                                  April 9, 1997
         
         
      TO: Honorable Kim Brimer, Chair            IN RE:  House Bill No. 2759
          Committee on Business & Industry                              By: Walker
          House
          Austin, Texas
         
         
         
         
         FROM:  John Keel, Director    
         
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on HB2759 ( Relating 
to the delivery by certain electric cooperative corporations 
of money that is presumed to be abandoned.) this office has 
detemined the following:
         
         Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by HB2759-As Introduced
         
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
         

         
 
The bill would amend Chapter 74 of the Property Code to allow 
an electric cooperative incorporated in another state to divert 
unclaimed money due the State of Texas to a scholarship fund. 
 The scholarship fund would be used to enable students from 
rural areas to attend college, technical school, or other post-secondary 
educational institutions. The Comptroller has indicated that 
the amount that the state General Revenue fund will retain each 
year from both in-state and out-of-state electric cooperatives' 
capital credits is under $100,000.  The potential loss to the 
General Revenue Fund from implementation of this bill is therefore 
substantially less than $100,000.
          
Current law allows for unclaimed capital credits, delivered 
to the state by electric cooperative corporations, to be used 
by the county in which the cooperative members reside for economic 
development programs defined under Section 381.004 of the Local 
Government Code. The bill would reduce the amount of unclaimed 
property, including capital credits, remitted to the state from 
electric cooperatives incorporated in another state and thus 
reduce the amount available to counties for economic development 
programs.  The Comptroller is unable to identify the amount 
of unclaimed money contributed by out-of-state electric cooperatives 
to the pool that counties can draw from for economic development 
programs.  The total pool, contributed by all electric cooperatives, 
that counties can use for economic development programs is estimated 
to be $700,000. 
          
   Source:            Agencies:   304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
                                         
                      LBB Staff:   JK ,TH ,RN