H.B. No. 2928
AN ACT
relating to projects that may be undertaken by certain development
corporations with respect to business enterprises or business
development.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2(11), Development Corporation Act of
1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
read as follows:
(11) [(A)] "Project" shall mean:
(A) the land, buildings, equipment, facilities,
expenditures, targeted infrastructure, and improvements (one or
more) that are for the creation or retention of primary jobs and
that are found by the board of directors to be required or suitable
for the development, retention, or expansion of manufacturing and
industrial facilities, research and development facilities,
transportation facilities (including but not limited to airports,
ports, mass commuting facilities, and parking facilities), sewage
or solid waste disposal facilities, recycling facilities, air or
water pollution control facilities, facilities for the furnishing
of water to the general public, distribution centers, small
warehouse facilities capable of serving as decentralized storage
and distribution centers, primary job training facilities for use
by institutions of higher education, and regional or national
corporate headquarters facilities;[.]
(B) ["Project" also includes] job training
required or suitable for the promotion of development and expansion
of business enterprises and other enterprises described by this
Act, as provided by Section 38 of this Act;[.]
(C) ["Project" also includes] expenditures found
by the board of directors to be required or suitable for
infrastructure necessary to promote or develop new or expanded
business enterprises limited to streets and roads, rail spurs,
water and sewer utilities, electric utilities, gas utilities,
drainage, site improvements, and related improvements, [and]
telecommunications and Internet improvements, and beach
remediation along the Gulf of Mexico;
(D) for a corporation created by a city any part
of which is located within 25 miles of an international border, the
land, buildings, facilities, infrastructure, and improvements
that:
(i) the board of directors finds are
required or suitable for the development or expansion of airport
facilities; or
(ii) are undertaken by the corporation if
the city that created the corporation has, at the time the project
is approved by the corporation as provided by this Act:
(a) a population of less than 50,000;
or
(b) an average rate of unemployment
that is greater than the state average rate of unemployment during
the 12-month period for which data is available that immediately
precedes the date the project is approved; or
(E) expenditures found by the board of directors
to be required or suitable for infrastructure necessary to promote
or develop new or expanded business enterprises, including
airports, ports, and sewer or solid waste disposal facilities, if
the corporation:
(i) is created by a city wholly or partly
located in a county that is bordered by the Rio Grande, has a
population of at least 500,000, and has wholly or partly within its
boundaries at least four cities that each have a population of at
least 25,000; and
(ii) does not support a project, as defined
by this subdivision, with sales and use tax revenue collected under
Section 4A or 4B of this Act.
SECTION 2. Section 4A(i), Development Corporation Act of
1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
read as follows:
(i) Except as provided by this subsection, the corporation
may not undertake a project the primary purpose of which is to
provide transportation facilities, solid waste disposal
facilities, sewage facilities, facilities for furnishing water to
the general public, or air or water pollution control facilities.
However, the corporation may provide those facilities to benefit
property acquired for a project having another primary purpose.
The corporation may undertake a project the primary purpose of
which is to provide:
(1) a general aviation business service airport that
is an integral part of an industrial park; [or]
(2) port-related facilities to support waterborne
commerce; or
(3) airport-related facilities, if the corporation is
created by a city that is wholly or partly located within 25 miles
of an international border and has, at the time the project is
approved by the corporation as provided by this Act:
(A) a population of less than 50,000; or
(B) an average rate of unemployment that is
greater than the state average rate of unemployment during the
12-month period for which data is available that immediately
precedes the date the project is approved.
SECTION 3. Section 4B(a), Development Corporation Act of
1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
adding Subdivisions (3) and (4) to read as follows:
(3) For a corporation created by an eligible city with
a population of 20,000 or less, "project" shall also include the
land, buildings, equipment, facilities, expenditures, targeted
infrastructure, and improvements found by the board of directors to
promote new or expanded business development. A corporation may
not undertake a project authorized by this subdivision that
requires an expenditure of more than $10,000 until the governing
body of the eligible city creating the corporation adopts a
resolution authorizing the project after giving the resolution at
least two separate readings.
(4)(A) In this subdivision, "landlocked community"
means a city that is wholly or partly located in a county with a
population of 2 million or more and has within its city limits and
extraterritorial jurisdiction less than 100 acres that can be used
for the development of manufacturing or industrial facilities in
accordance with the zoning laws or land use restrictions of the
city.
(B) For a landlocked community that creates or
has created a corporation governed by this section, "project" also
includes expenditures found by the board of directors to be
required for the promotion of new or expanded business enterprises
within the landlocked community.
SECTION 4. Section 40(a), Development Corporation Act of
1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A corporation created under this Act may not provide a
direct incentive to or make an expenditure on behalf of a business
enterprise under a project as defined by Section 2 or 4B(a)(2), (3),
or (4) of this Act unless the corporation enters into a performance
agreement with the business enterprise.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2928 was passed by the House on April
29, 2005, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2928 on May 27, 2005, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 2928 on May 29, 2005, by a
non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2928 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2928 on May 29, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor