LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                                   Austin, Texas
         
                                   FISCAL NOTE
                               75th Regular Session
         
                                  May 23, 1997
         
         
      TO: Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney            IN RE:  House Bill No. 3203, As Passed 2nd House
          Speaker of the House                Counts
          House of Representatives
          Austin, Texas
         
         
         
         
         FROM:  John Keel, Director    
         
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on HB3203 ( relating 
to the disposition of unclaimed funds by nonprofit cooperative 
corporations) this office has detemined the following:
         
         Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by HB3203-As Passed 2nd House
         
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.    
         
The bill would amend the Property Code to authorize nonprofit 
cooperative corporations to deliver their unclaimed money to 
a scholarship fund for rural students or to an economic development 
fund for rural communities, instead of delivering the money 
to the Comptroller for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. 
 The bill would limit to $1 million the total amount of unclaimed 
money that could be transferred by all nonprofit cooperative 
corporations during the state fiscal year.  No more than 20 
percent of each nonprofit cooperative corporation's unclaimed 
funds could be used for economic development.

The Comptroller 
has determined that the amount of unclaimed property that would 
be transferred to rural scholarship and economic development 
funds, and therefore not deposited into the General Revenue 
Fund, would be insignificant.

Under current law, a county 
may request that the state transfer to it an amount equal to 
any unclaimed capital credits from the electric cooperative(s) 
which serves the county,  less anticipated claims, to be used 
for various county economic development programs.  The bill 
would reduce the amount of unclaimed property, including capital 
credits, supplied to the state from electric cooperatives -- 
and thus reduce the amount of unclaimed property that can be 
used for economic development programs defined under Section 
381.004 of the Local Government Code.  The amount would vary 
depending on the value of unclaimed capital credits supplied 
by electric cooperatives, but could not exceed $1 million.
         
 
          
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
          
   Source:            Agencies:   
                                         
                      LBB Staff:   JK ,RR ,TH