81R8183 MCK-F

By: Martinez H.B. No. 3241

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to economic development in the state by creating economic development opportunities in counties that contain colonias and by developing the workforce by increasing adult literacy rates.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0663 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.0663. HIGHER EDUCATION COLONIA COUNTIES WORK GROUP. (a) The board shall establish the colonia counties work group to study and propose policies and legislation regarding the issues faced by counties that contain a colonia, as defined by Section 5.1781, Water Code, including issues related to international trade.

(b) The work group is composed of:

(1) one representative from each institution of higher education with a center, institute, or other unit of the institution specializing in issues faced by communities that contain colonias, as identified by the board; and

(2) the heads of the following agencies or their designees:

(A) the board;

(B) the Office of Rural Community Affairs;

(C) the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;

(D) the Texas Water Development Board;

(E) the Texas Department of Transportation;

(F) the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;

(G) the Texas Workforce Commission;

(H) the Department of State Health Services;

(I) the Health and Human Services Commission;

(J) the General Land Office;

(K) the Texas Education Agency;

(L) the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office;

(M) the Office of State-Federal Relations;

(N) the attorney general's office; and

(O) the secretary of state's office.

(c) The colonia counties work group shall:

(1) meet at least quarterly in Austin to discuss issues faced by counties that contain a colonia;

(2) discuss and evaluate ideas and policies to address those issues; and

(3) not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year, submit a report recommending appropriate policies to address those issues, including any proposals for legislation to implement the policies, to the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education or economic development.

SECTION 2. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter FF to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER FF. ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY

Sec. 61.981. COOPERATION WITH TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION. The board shall collaborate with the Texas Workforce Commission to improve the coordination and implementation of adult education and literacy services in this state.

SECTION 3. Chapter 481, Government Code, is amended by adding Subchapter Q to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER Q. TEXAS COLONIA COUNTIES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT

COMMISSION

Sec. 481.301. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Colonia" has the meaning assigned by Section 5.1781, Water Code.

(2) "Commission" means the Texas Colonia Counties Strategic Investment Commission.

Sec. 481.302. TEXAS COLONIA COUNTIES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT COMMISSION; MEMBERS. (a) The Texas Colonia Counties Strategic Investment Commission is composed of the following officers or their designees:

(1) the lieutenant governor;

(2) the speaker of the house of representatives;

(3) the comptroller;

(4) the commissioner of agriculture;

(5) the chair of the Senate Finance Committee;

(6) the chair of the House Appropriations Committee; and

(7) the secretary of state.

(b) The lieutenant governor or the lieutenant governor's designee shall serve as the chair of the commission.

Sec. 481.303. FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION. (a) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall identify and recommend funding for strategic investment initiatives in counties that contain a colonia.

(b) The strategic investment initiatives recommended shall be identified using criteria that include the following:

(1) whether the initiative recommended is the most significant investment the state can make in a key regional cluster to produce a sound foundation for economic development;

(2) whether the investment recommended leverages other significant funds or has an objective and calculable rate of return;

(3) whether the recommendation is a clearly defined concept with significant regional support;

(4) whether the concept recommended requires special investment in order to be accomplished in the near future because similar and timely funding by local, state, or federal sources in the normal appropriations process is unlikely; and

(5) whether the investment recommended will increase the per capita income and decrease the unemployment rate of the affected area.

Sec. 481.304. REPORT. (a) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall file a report with the legislature that states the strategic investment initiatives recommended by the commission during the preceding two-year period and identify the initiatives that received funding during the preceding fiscal biennium. The report must include any recommendations for legislative action the commission considers appropriate to further the creation or function of the commission.

(b) For the recommended initiatives that received funding during the biennium in which the report is submitted, the commission shall evaluate each initiative according to performance measures identified by the commission and the following performance measures:

(1) the number of jobs created by the initiative and the nature of economic development created by the initiative;

(2) the impact of any economic development on wage rates in any affected metropolitan statistical area;

(3) the wages and benefits paid by employers of the created jobs compared to the countywide average wage for the particular industry sector that received funding;

(4) the other funds that were leveraged or the calculable rate of return from the state's investment in a particular initiative;

(5) the initiative's ability to attract new industry and economic development to counties that contain a colonia; and

(6) the duration and quality of the jobs, economic development, and opportunities created.

Sec. 481.305. FUNDING; GIFTS AND GRANTS. (a) In addition to any amount appropriated by the legislature, the commission may request state agencies to apply for available funds from the federal government or any other public or private entity. The commission may also solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from private sources on the state's behalf. The use of a gift, grant, or donation solicited under this section must be consistent with the purposes of the commission.

(b) The commission shall review and may require reports of state agencies that receive appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, funds, or endowments as a result of the commission's recommendations.

(c) The commission may also study counties classified by the federal government as persistent poverty counties to determine strategic development needs and opportunities.

SECTION 4. Chapter 775, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 775.006 to read as follows:

Sec. 775.006. ADOPTION OF RULES WITH ADVERSE ECONOMIC EFFECT. (a) In this section, "colonia" has the meaning assigned by Section 5.1781, Water Code.

(b) An agency considering adoption of a rule that may have an adverse economic effect on businesses in a county that contains a colonia shall reduce that effect if legal and feasible, considering the purpose of the statute under which the rule is to be adopted.

(c) To reduce an adverse effect on those businesses, an agency may:

(1) establish separate compliance or reporting requirements for businesses in a county that contains a colonia;

(2) use performance standards in place of design standards for businesses in a county that contains a colonia; or

(3) exempt businesses in a county that contains a colonia from all or part of the rule.

(d) Before adopting a rule that may have an adverse economic effect on businesses in a county that contains a colonia, an agency shall prepare:

(1) an economic impact statement that estimates the number of those businesses subject to the proposed rule, projects the economic impact of the rule on those businesses, and describes alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed rule; and

(2) a regulatory flexibility analysis that includes the agency's consideration of alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed rule.

(e) The analysis prepared under Subsection (d)(2) must consider, if consistent with the health, safety, and environmental and economic welfare of the state, the use of regulatory methods that will accomplish the objectives of applicable rules while minimizing adverse impacts on businesses in a county that contains a colonia. The agency must include in the analysis several proposed methods of reducing the adverse impact of a proposed rule on those businesses.

(f) The agency shall include the economic impact statement and regulatory flexibility analysis as part of the notice of the proposed rule that the agency files with the secretary of state for publication in the Texas Register and shall provide copies to the standing committee of each house of the legislature that is charged with reviewing the proposed rule.

(g) This section does not apply to a rule adopted under Title 2, Tax Code.

(h) The attorney general, in consultation with the comptroller, shall prepare guidelines to assist an agency:

(1) in determining a proposed rule's potential adverse economic effects on businesses in a county that contains a colonia; and

(2) in identifying and evaluating alternative methods of achieving the purpose of a proposed rule.

SECTION 5. Section 2303.406(d), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) The maximum number of enterprise projects that the bank may designate for each nominating body during any biennium is:

(1) four, plus two additional bonus projects the bank may award in a municipality or county with a population of less than 250,000 and four additional bonus projects the bank may award in a municipality or county that contains a colonia, as defined by Section 5.1781, Water Code; or

(2) six, if the nominating body is the governing body of a municipality or county with a population of 250,000 or more, plus four additional bonus projects in such a municipality or county that contains a colonia, as defined by Section 5.1781, Water Code.

SECTION 6. Section 301.171, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 301.171. COOPERATION WITH TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY AND HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD TO IMPROVE ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY SERVICES. The commission shall:

(1) collaborate with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to improve the coordination and implementation of adult education and literacy services in this state; and

(2) develop, in coordination with the Texas Education Agency and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, literacy services with a focus on professional, vocational, and workforce skill development.

SECTION 7. Subchapter J, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is amended by adding Section 301.172 to read as follows:

Sec. 301.172. FEDERAL LITERACY PROGRAMS. The commission shall:

(1) identify opportunities for federal funding of adult education and literacy programs, including waivers to federal requirements and restrictions; and

(2) apply for available waivers to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.), or other federal programs, to transfer funds between adult, youth, and dislocated worker programs if:

(A) the commission determines that a waiver would benefit literacy programs;

(B) a local workforce development board requests in writing that the commission apply for the waiver; and

(C) the county to which the waiver applies contains a colonia, as defined by Section 5.1781, Water Code.

SECTION 8. Section 303.003(f), Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

(f) The Texas Engineering Extension Service shall focus the service's training activities under this chapter on programs that:

(1) are statewide in nature; [or]

(2) are not available from a local junior college district, a local technical college, or a consortium of junior college districts; or

(3) are offered in a county that contains a colonia.

SECTION 9. This Act controls over any conflicting provisions of law.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.