By Coleman H.B. No. 2898
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to anticipation notes and short-term obligations for a
1-3 public utility.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sec. 1(1), Article 717q, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-6 Statutes is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Issuer" means (A) any incorporated city operating
1-8 under a home-rule charter adopted pursuant to Article XI, Section
1-9 5, of the Constitution of Texas having a population according to
1-10 the latest federal decennial census of 90,000 or more and having
1-11 outstanding long-term debt secured by the revenues of the public
1-12 utility for which the obligations are being issued which is rated
1-13 by a nationally recognized rating agency for municipal securities
1-14 in one of the four highest rating categories for long-term
1-15 obligations; (B) any conservation and reclamation district created
1-16 and organized as a river authority under and pursuant to Article
1-17 III, Section 52, or Article XVI, Section 59, of the Constitution of
1-18 Texas and by an act of the legislature of the State of Texas; (C)
1-19 any joint powers agency organized and operating pursuant to Chapter
1-20 166, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article
1-21 1435a, Revised Statutes); (D) any metropolitan rapid transit
2-1 authority or regional transportation authority created, organized,
2-2 and operating pursuant to Chapter 141, Acts of the 63rd
2-3 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 1118x, Revised
2-4 Statutes) or Chapter 683, Acts of the 66th Legislature, Regular
2-5 Session, 1979 (Article 1118y, Revised Statutes); (E) any
2-6 conservation and reclamation district organized or operating as a
2-7 navigation district under and pursuant to Article III, Section 52,
2-8 or Article XVI, Section 59, of the Constitution of Texas; (F) any
2-9 district organized or operating under and pursuant to Article XVI,
2-10 Section 59, of the Constitution of Texas which has all or part of
2-11 two or more incorporated cities within its boundaries; (G) agencies
2-12 of the State of Texas (including the governing boards of the state
2-13 institutions of higher education); (H) any hospital authority in a
2-14 county with a population of more than 2 million, according to the
2-15 most recent federal census, or any hospital authority in a county
2-16 that is included, in whole or in part, in a standard metropolitan
2-17 statistical area of this state that includes a county with a
2-18 population of more than 1,800,000, that was created or is operating
2-19 under Chapter 262, Health and Safety Code, or Chapter 264, Health
2-20 and Safety Code; (I) any nonprofit corporation organized to
2-21 exercise the powers of a higher education authority under
2-22 Subsection (e), Section 53.47, Education Code; [and] (J) a county
2-23 having a population of 2 million or more according to the most
2-24 recent federal census; (K) an independent school district having an
2-25 average daily attendance of 190,000 or more; and (L) a venue
3-1 district created under Chapter 335, Local Government Code.
3-2 SECTION 2. Sec. 1(3), Article 717q, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-3 Statutes is amended to read as follows:
3-4 (3) "Eligible project" means:
3-5 (A) the acquisition or construction of and
3-6 improvements, additions, or extensions to a public utility, one or
3-7 more, including capital assets and facilities incident and related
3-8 to the operation, maintenance, and administration thereof, and,
3-9 with respect to properties and facilities for: (1) the generation
3-10 of electric power and energy, fuel acquisition, or development or
3-11 facilities for the transportation thereof; (2) a public
3-12 transportation system, buildings, structures, terminals, rolling
3-13 stock, garages, shops, equipment, and other facilities (including
3-14 vehicle parking areas and facilities necessary or convenient for
3-15 the beneficial use and access of persons and vehicles to stations,
3-16 terminals, yards, cars, and buses or for the protection and
3-17 environmental enhancement of such facilities) for mass public
3-18 transportation; (3) a port facility, wharves, docks, warehouses,
3-19 grain elevators, other storage facilities, bunkering facilities,
3-20 port-related railroads and bridges, floating plants and facilities,
3-21 lightering facilities, cargo handling facilities, towing
3-22 facilities, and all other facilities or aids incident to or useful
3-23 in the operation of a port facility; (4) a causeway, bridge,
3-24 tunnel, turnpike, highway, or a combination of such facilities,
3-25 including all necessary overpasses, underpasses, interchanges,
4-1 entrance plazas, tollhouses, service stations, approaches,
4-2 fixtures, accessories, equipment, storage, administration, and
4-3 other necessary buildings, together with all property rights,
4-4 easements, and other interests acquired in connection therewith;
4-5 (5) any public improvements owned by a county that serve the
4-6 purpose of attracting visitors and tourists to a county, including
4-7 civic centers, auditoriums, exhibition halls, coliseums, stadiums,
4-8 and parking areas; [and] (6) a project for which there exist
4-9 authorized but unissued obligations approved by a majority of the
4-10 voters of the issuer, including obligations payable from ad valorem
4-11 taxes; and (7) an approved venue project under Chapter 335, Local
4-12 Government Code.
4-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.