BILL ANALYSIS |
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H.B. 4016 |
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By: Weber |
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Higher Education |
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Committee Report (Unamended) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law authorizes certain cities and counties to issue public securities, including certificates of obligation, to acquire, construct, or improve land or buildings or to make other permanent improvements for use by an institution of higher education. The City of Pearland desires to enter into an agreement for the city to issue public securities to finance and construct a building, a portion of which will be leased to the University of Houston - Clear Lake to create a University of Houston campus at Pearland. The public finance division of the attorney general’s office has raised several concerns about the use of county and municipal higher education improvement bonds to finance the University of Houston - Pearland campus.
H.B. 4016 specifies that a home-rule city with a population of 25,000 or more that has an institution of higher education other than a public junior college located within its boundaries or that has entered into an agreement with an institution of higher education other than a public junior college to provide classes in the home-rule city is eligible to use county and municipal higher education improvement bonds to finance and construct a building to be used by the institution of higher education; provides that the financing and construction of a municipal building, a portion of which will be leased to an institution of higher education, benefits the citizens of the municipality and is a valid municipal public purpose; and provides that revenues received by a city or county from an institution of higher education pursuant to a lease of a building may be used to secure payment of public securities issued to construct buildings or other permanent improvements for use by an institution of higher education.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
H.B. 4016 amends the Government Code to establish that provisions governing the issuance of county and municipal higher education improvement bonds apply to a home-rule municipality with a population of 25,000 or more that has an institution of higher education, rather than a general academic teaching institution, located within its boundaries or has entered into an agreement with an institution of higher education relating to the provision of educational services within the municipality by the institution. The bill defines "agreement" to include a lease, contract, or lease-purchase agreement and, for the purpose of these provisions, defines "institution of higher learning" by reference to the meaning assigned to that term in the Education Code, but with the specific exclusion of a public junior college.
H.B. 4016 expands the legislative findings by specifying that the assistance provided by counties and municipalities in promoting and providing higher education opportunities for residents of Texas will benefit and enhance the general welfare of their residents by providing new and alternative higher education resources and enhanced access to those resources, improving and enhancing the educational opportunities of their residents, and allowing the completion of certificate programs, degree programs, and other higher education programs locally, and that those benefits and enhancements constitute public purposes for counties and municipalities. The bill deletes the existing finding that such assistance will encourage the development and diversification of the Texas economy and the elimination of unemployment and underemployment in Texas.
H.B. 4016 authorizes a municipality that has entered into an agreement with an institution of higher education relating to the provision of educational services within the municipality to:
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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