HBA-DMD H.B. 1341 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1341 By: Gallego State, Federal, & International Relations 3/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Out of the 254 counties in Texas, 225 still have historic county courthouses, all of which have as a group been named to the National Trust for Historic Places' list of the 11 Most Endangered Places in the United States. These courthouses are in need of repair due to outdated electric wiring, roof leaks, and inadequate climate control. Some have become unusable. H.B. 1341 requires the Texas Historical Commission (commission) to establish a historic courthouse preservation program (program) to award loans and grants for restoring or preserving historic courthouses. This bill authorizes the commission to establish requirements for awarding a loan or grant to a county or nonprofit organization and establishes a historic courthouse preservation fund account as a separate account in the general revenue fund. This bill also prohibits a grant for a historic courthouse project from exceeding four million dollars. H.B. 1341 requires the commission to adopt rules to administer the program, regarding preservation standards, maximum loan amounts, elements of a master plan, application consideration, and project oversight procedures. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Historical Commission in SECTION 2 (Sections 442.0081, 442.0082, and 442.0083, Government Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 442.001, Government Code, as follows: Sec. 442.001. New Title: DEFINITIONS. Defines "historic courthouse" and "historic courthouse project." Redesignates Subdivisions (1)-(6) to paragraphs (A)-(F), respectively. SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 442, Government Code, by adding Sections 442.0081, 442.0082, and 442.0083, as follows: Sec. 442.0081. HISTORIC COURTHOUSE PRESERVATION PROGRAM; GRANTS AND LOANS. (a) Requires the Texas Historical Commission (commission) to administer a historic courthouse preservation program. (b) Authorizes an owner of a historic courthouse who is also a county or nonprofit organization (organization) to apply to the commission for a grant or loan for a historic courthouse project. Provides that the application for the grant or loan must: (1) state the location of the courthouse; (2) state the identity of each owner of the courthouse; (3) state whether the courthouse is or is likely to become a historic structure; (4) state the amount of money or in-kind contributions that the owner promises to contribute to the project; (5) state whether the courthouse is currently functioning as a courthouse; (6) include any plans, including a master preservation plan, that the owner may have for the project; and (7) include any other information that the commission, by rule, is authorized to require. (c) Authorizes the commission to grant or loan money to an organization that owns a historic courthouse, for the purpose of preserving or restoring the courthouse, provided that the owner's application meets the standards of the historic courthouse preservation program. Requires the commission, when considering whether to grant the owner's application, to consider the preferences and factors listed in this section as well as any other factors that the commission is authorized to provide by rule. (d) Requires the commission, when considering whether to grant an application, to give preference to: (1) a project that proposes to preserve or restore a courthouse that is or is likely to become a historic structure, or is owned by the county and functioning as a courthouse; and (2) an owner that will provide or has provided at least 15 percent of the project's costs, including in-kind contributions, and previous expenditures for master planning and renovations on the courthouse that are the subject of the application. (e) Requires the commission to adopt rules regarding the way in which it will consider the following factors when analyzing an owner's contribution to project costs under Subsection (d)(2): (1) the period during which past expenditures can be considered; (2) the amount of past expenditures that can be considered; and (3) the amount and type of in-kind contributions that can be considered. (f) Requires the commission, when considering whether to grant an application, to also consider the following factors: (1) the amount of money available for a grant or loan and the percentage of the costs that the owner will contribute; (2) whether the owner will contribute any in-kind contribution such as labor or materials; (3) the cost to preserve or restore the courthouse; (4) the architectural style of the courthouse; (5) the historic significance of the courthouse; (6) the owner's master preservation plan; (7) whether the owner is an organization; and (8) any other factors that the commission is authorized to provide by rule. (g) Requires the commission to appoint a Texas Courthouse Preservation Program Advisory Committee (committee), after considering any recommendations from the governor, lieutenant governor, or speaker of the house of representatives. Requires the committee to assist the commission on matters relating to the historic courthouse preservation program. Authorizes the commission to reimburse a committee member's travel expenses and provide a per diem for other expenses from funds that are appropriated to the commission, but not from the funds in the historic courthouse preservation fund account (account) created by this chapter. Provides that Chapter 2110 (State Agency Advisory Committees), Local Government Code, applies to the committee, but the committee must include at least the following members: (1) an elected county official; (2) a director of a nonprofit historic preservation organization; (3) an architect with substantial experience in historic preservation; (4) a real estate or construction expert with experience in historic preservation; (5) an attorney with a recognized background in historic preservation; and (6) two persons who do not meet the criteria of Subdivisions (1)-(5) who have a demonstrated commitment to historic preservation. (h) Requires the commission to adopt rules necessary to implement the historic courthouse preservation program. Sec. 442.0082. HISTORIC COURTHOUSE PROJECT; REQUIREMENTS. (a) Provides that before incurring any expenses payable from funds received from the commission under the historic courthouse preservation program, an owner must have a master preservation plan for its historic courthouse project. Requires the commission, by rule, to prescribe the elements of a master preservation plan. (b) Provides that an owner that receives money under the historic courthouse preservation program must use recognized preservation standards for work on a historic courthouse project, which the commission, by rule, is required to adopt. Authorizes the commission to adopt standards that are published by the secretary of the interior of the United States for the treatment of historic properties. (c) Authorizes an owner that receives money under the historic courthouse preservation program for a historic courthouse project to use the money only for eligible preservation and restoration expenses that the commission, by rule, is required to prescribe. Authorizes eligible expenses to include costs for: (1) structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and weather protection and emergency public safety issues not covered by insurance; (2) code and environmental compliance, including complying with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its subsequent amendments, Article 9102, V.T.C.S., (Architectural Barriers), and other state laws relating to accessibility standards, hazardous materials mitigation rules, and other similar concerns; (3) replication of a missing architectural feature; (4) removal of an inappropriate addition or modification; (5) restoration of a courtroom or other significant public space in a functional and historically appropriate manner; and (6) alteration of the landscape to provide a more historically appropriate setting for the courthouse. (d) Subjects an owner's expenditure of money received under this chapter for a historic courthouse project to an audit by the state auditor in accordance with Chapter 321 (State Auditor), Government Code. (e) Requires the commission, by rule, to provide for oversight procedures on a project, to provide for reasonable inspections by the commission as well as periodic reports by an owner on a project's progress. Sec. 442.0083. FUNDING FOR HISTORIC COURTHOUSE PRESERVATION PROGRAM; HISTORIC COURTHOUSE PRESERVATION FUND ACCOUNT. (a) Establishes that the account is a separate account in the general revenue fund consisting of transfers made to the account, payments on loans made under the historic courthouse preservation program, grants and donations made for the purposes of the historic courthouse preservation program, and income earned on investments of money in the account. Requires that appropriations to the commission for the historic courthouse preservation program be deposited to the credit of the account. Requires income earned on money in the account to be deposited to the credit of the account, notwithstanding Section 404.071 (Disposition of Interest on Investments), Government Code. (b) Authorizes the commission to use money in the account to provide a grant or loan to an organization that owns a historic courthouse for a historic courthouse project. Authorizes the grant or loan to be in the amount and according to the terms that the commission, by rule, is required to determine. (c) Authorizes the commission, as a condition for providing the money under this section, to require creation of a conservation easement in the property, as provided by Chapter 183 (Conservation Easements), Natural Resources Code, in favor of the state and to require creation of other appropriate covenants in favor of the state. Authorizes the commission to take any necessary action to enforce repayment of a loan or any other agreements made under this section and Sections 442.0081 and 442.0082. (d) Prohibits a grant for a historic courthouse project from exceeding four million dollars or two percent of the amount appropriated for implementing the historic courthouse preservation program during the state fiscal biennium, whichever is greater. (e) Prohibits biennial appropriations to the commission for administering the historic courthouse preservation program, including providing oversight for historic courthouse projects, from exceeding two million dollars or one percent of the amount appropriated for implementing the historic courthouse preservation program during the state fiscal biennium, whichever is greater. (f) Authorizes the commission, by rule, to set a limit on the loan amount for a historic courthouse project which may be expressed as a dollar amount or as a percentage of the total amount appropriated for implementing the historic courthouse preservation program during the state fiscal biennium. (g) Authorizes the commission to accept a gift, grant, or other donation for the historic courthouse preservation program or a specific historic courthouse project. SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1999. Requires the commission to adopt rules required by Sections 442.0081, 442.0082, and 442.0083, Government Code, as added by this Act, no later than November 1, 1999. SECTION 4.Emergency clause.