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By: Mowery H.B. No. 398
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the approval process for certain housing project sites
proposed by public housing authorities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 392.003, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 392.003. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
that:
(1) there is a shortage of safe or sanitary housing at
rents that persons of low income can afford that forces persons of
low income to live in unsanitary or unsafe housing and in
overcrowded and congested housing;
(2) these housing conditions are responsible for an
increase in and spread of disease and crime, are a menace to the
health, safety, morals, and welfare of the residents of the state,
impair economic values, and necessitate excessive and
disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention
and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident
protection, and other public services and facilities;
(3) the unsafe and unsanitary housing cannot be
cleared and the shortage of safe and sanitary housing for persons of
low income cannot be relieved by private enterprise;
(4) the construction of housing projects for persons
of low income would not be competitive with private enterprise;
(5) the clearance, replanning, and reconstruction of
the areas in which unsanitary or unsafe housing exists and the
providing of safe and sanitary housing for persons of low income are
public uses and purposes and governmental functions of state
concern for which public money may be spent and private property
acquired;
(6) it is in the public interest for:
(A) [that] work on low income housing projects to
commence as soon as possible to relieve the unemployment emergency;
and
(B) the public to be fully aware of and able to
participate in basic decisions associated with work on those
projects; and
(7) this chapter is necessary in the public interest.
SECTION 2. Section 392.053, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (e) and adding Subsections
(d-1) and (f) to read as follows:
(b) Unless the commissioners of an authority hold a public
meeting about a proposed housing project before the site for the
project is approved, the authority may not authorize the
acquisition of existing multifamily rental housing for use as a
housing project or the construction of a [the] housing project or
obtain a permit, certificate, or other authorization required by a
[municipality or other] political subdivision for the occupancy or
operation of any part of the housing project or for any part of the
construction of the housing project. A majority of the
commissioners must attend the [public] meeting. The governing body
of each of the following political subdivisions shall send a
representative to attend the meeting:
(1) a political subdivision that requires a permit,
certificate, or other authorization for the occupancy or operation
of any part of the housing project or for any part of the
construction of the project; and
(2) the municipality in which the housing project is
to be located or, if the project will not be located in a
municipality, the county in which the project is to be located, if
the municipality or county is not otherwise described by
Subdivision (1).
(d-1) The commissioners shall consider, transcribe or
record, and summarize the comments received at the meeting and
submit the summary along with the proposal for the housing project
to the governing bodies of the appropriate political subdivisions
for approval as described by Section 392.0545.
(e) If a housing authority has not complied with the
requirements of this section and Section 392.054, a [municipality
or other] political subdivision may not issue a permit,
certificate, or other authorization for the occupancy or operation
of any part of the housing project or for any part of the
construction of[, or for the occupancy of,] a housing project.
(f) This section does not apply to the acquisition of:
(1) existing multifamily rental housing if any part of
that housing is reserved for persons of extremely low to moderate
income; or
(2) a permit, certificate, or other authorization
required for the occupancy or operation of any part of existing
multifamily rental housing described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 392, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 392.0545 to read as follows:
Sec. 392.0545. APPROVAL OF HOUSING PROJECT SITE BY CERTAIN
POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. (a) In this section, "housing project" has
the meaning assigned by Section 392.053.
(b) Before authorizing the acquisition of existing
multifamily rental housing for use as a housing project or the
construction of a housing project, the authority must obtain the
written approval of the proposed site of the project from the
governing body of each of the following political subdivisions:
(1) a political subdivision that requires a permit,
certificate, or other authorization for the occupancy or operation
of any part of the housing project or for any part of the
construction of the project; and
(2) the municipality in which the housing project is
to be located or, if the project will not be located in a
municipality, the county in which the project is to be located, if
the municipality or county is not otherwise described by
Subdivision (1).
(c) This section does not apply to the acquisition of
existing multifamily rental housing if any part of that housing is
reserved for persons of extremely low to moderate income.
SECTION 4. Section 392.056, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (f) to
read as follows:
(c) Except as prohibited in Subsection (f), an [An]
authority may sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or
grant an option on the authority's real property or personal
property and may insure or provide for the insurance of the
authority's real property, personal property, or operations
against risks or hazards.
(f) An authority may not demolish or otherwise dispose of a
public housing project or a portion of a public housing project
until written approval, as required in Section 392.0545(b), has
been secured for a site or sites on which replacement housing units
will be provided under terms of comparable tenant eligibility.
This subsection does not apply to the disposal of existing
multifamily rental housing if any part of that housing is reserved
for persons of extremely low to moderate income.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by Section 392.053, Local
Government Code, as amended by this Act, and by Section 392.0545,
Local Government Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a
proposed housing project for which the site is approved by a public
housing authority on or after the effective date of this Act. A
proposed housing project for which the site is approved by a public
housing authority before the effective date of this Act is covered
by the law as it existed immediately before that date, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.