By:  Lucio                                            S.B. No. 1613
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to requiring the Texas Commission on the Arts to develop a
 1-2     five-year program to promote the development of the arts in certain
 1-3     counties.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 444, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 444.031 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 444.031.  BORDER AND RURAL COMMUNITY ARTS INITIATIVE.
 1-8     (a)  The commission shall develop a program under which the
 1-9     commission will provide financial assistance and on-site technical
1-10     assistance to promote the development of the arts in the 25
1-11     counties in this state  located on or nearest to an international
1-12     border and in counties with a population of less than 50,000.  The
1-13     commission shall model the program after its county arts expansion
1-14     program except that the commission may not require a county to
1-15     provide matching funds to participate in the program.
1-16           (b)  For each of the five state fiscal years ending August
1-17     31, 2000, August 31, 2001, August 31, 2002, August 31, 2003, and
1-18     August 31, 2004, the commission shall reserve $3,000 for each of
1-19     the counties, out of money appropriated to the commission that may
1-20     be used for this purpose, to implement the program in each of those
1-21     counties during the fiscal year.
1-22           (c)  This section expires September 1, 2004.
1-23           SECTION 2.  Except as provided by Section 3 of this Act, this
1-24     Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-1           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect only if a specific
 2-2     appropriation for the implementation of this Act is provided in
 2-3     H.B. No. 1 (General Appropriations Act), Acts of the 76th
 2-4     Legislature, Regular Session, 1999.  If no specific appropriation
 2-5     is provided in H.B. No. 1, the General Appropriations Act, this Act
 2-6     has no effect.
 2-7           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.