1-1     By:  McClendon (Senate Sponsor - Madla)               H.B. No. 3790
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 1999;
 1-3     April 20, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; April 29, 1999, reported favorably by
 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 29, 1999, sent to
 1-6     printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the ability of an employee of a public housing
1-10     authority to participate in certain contracts or agreements for
1-11     housing assistance.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 392.043, Local Government Code, is
1-14     amended by amending Subsection (a) and by adding Subsections (f)
1-15     and (g) to read as follows:
1-16           (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), [or] (c), or (f),
1-17     an employee of an authority may not have dealings with a housing
1-18     project  for pecuniary gain and may not own, acquire, or control a
1-19     direct or indirect interest in a:
1-20                 (1)  housing project;
1-21                 (2)  property included or planned to be included in a
1-22     housing project;
1-23                 (3)  contract or proposed contract for the sale of land
1-24     to be used for a housing project;
1-25                 (4)  contract or proposed contract for the construction
1-26     of a housing project; or
1-27                 (5)  contract or proposed contract for the sale of
1-28     materials or services to be furnished or used in connection with a
1-29     housing project.
1-30           (f)  An employee of an authority may be a party to or
1-31     otherwise participate in a contract or agreement for assistance
1-32     under a housing program, including a contract or agreement for
1-33     public housing, Section 8 housing assistance, low-interest home
1-34     loans, lease-purchase assistance, or down payment assistance, to
1-35     the same extent as a member of the public if the employee qualifies
1-36     for assistance under the program.
1-37           (g)  In this section, "Section 8 housing assistance" means
1-38     housing assistance provided under Section 8, United States Housing
1-39     Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Section 1437f).
1-40           SECTION 2.  Conduct described by Section 392.043(f), Local
1-41     Government Code, as added by this Act, that constituted an offense
1-42     under Section 392.043, Local Government Code, before the effective
1-43     date of this Act may not be prosecuted after the effective date of
1-44     this Act.  If on the effective date of this Act a criminal action
1-45     is pending for conduct described by Subsection (f) that constituted
1-46     an offense under Section 392.043, the action is dismissed on that
1-47     date.  However, a final conviction for conduct described by
1-48     Subsection (f) that constituted an offense under Section 392.043
1-49     that exists on the effective date of this Act is unaffected by this
1-50     Act.
1-51           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-52     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-53     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-54     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-55     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-56     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-57     passage, and it is so enacted.
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