1-1     By:  Shapleigh                                         S.B. No. 748
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 26, 1999; March 2, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
 1-4     April 15, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 15, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to home ownership counseling for displaced workers.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  The chapter heading to Chapter 304, Labor Code,
1-11     is amended to read as follows:
1-12                    CHAPTER 304.  [EMPLOYMENT] COUNSELING
1-13                     FOR DISPLACED HOMEMAKERS OR WORKERS
1-14           SECTION 2.  Chapter 304, Labor Code, is amended by adding
1-15     Section 304.005 to read as follows:
1-16           Sec. 304.005.  HOME OWNERSHIP COUNSELING FOR DISPLACED
1-17     WORKERS.  (a)  The commission shall provide written notice in
1-18     English and in Spanish of eligibility for home ownership counseling
1-19     under federal law to each worker residing in this state who is
1-20     eligible for home ownership counseling under 12 U.S.C. Section
1-21     1701x, as amended, and who:
1-22                 (1)  is covered by a certification of eligibility for
1-23     adjustment assistance under 19 U.S.C. Section 2331, as amended; or
1-24                 (2)  is threatened to become totally or partially
1-25     separated, or has become totally or partially separated, from a
1-26     firm that is certified eligible for adjustment assistance under 19
1-27     U.S.C. Section 2341, as amended.
1-28           (b)  The notice must contain:
1-29                 (1)  a list of home ownership counseling organizations
1-30     that:
1-31                       (A)  receive assistance under 12 U.S.C. Section
1-32     1701x, as amended; and
1-33                       (B)  serve the area in which the worker's home is
1-34     located; or
1-35                 (2)  any toll-free telephone number through which the
1-36     worker can obtain the list prescribed by Subdivision (1).
1-37           (c)  A firm located in this state that has requested a
1-38     certification of eligibility for adjustment assistance under 19
1-39     U.S.C. Section 2341, as amended, shall notify the commission of
1-40     that request.
1-41           (d)  In this section, "firm" has the meaning assigned by 19
1-42     U.S.C. Section 2351, as amended.
1-43           SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
1-44     to:
1-45                 (1)  a worker who is covered by a certification of
1-46     eligibility issued on or after the effective date of this Act;
1-47                 (2)  a worker who is employed by a person who is
1-48     covered by a certification of eligibility issued on or after the
1-49     effective date of this Act; or
1-50                 (3)  a firm that has requested a certification of
1-51     eligibility on or after the effective date of this Act.
1-52           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-53           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-58                                  * * * * *