By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 3540

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3540:

By: Walle C.S.H.B. No. 3540

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of a statewide initiative to increase independent, affordable housing for elderly or homeless persons and persons with disabilities.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 2306, Government Code, is amended by adding Subchapter NN to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER NN. TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE

Sec. 2306.1081. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to promote housing independence and prevent unnecessary and expensive institutionalization of the state's extremely low income elderly and homeless populations and persons with disabilities.

Sec. 2306.1082. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Elderly person" means a person 62 years of age or older or of an age specified by the applicable federal program.

(2) "Extremely low income" means a household with a combined income that is not more than 30 percent of the area median income or applicable federal poverty line, as determined under Section 2306.123 or 2306.1231.

(3) "Initiative plan" means the single unified plan developed by the task force under Section 2306.1087.

(4) "Noninstitutionalized housing" means a privately owned home, apartment, or group home.

(5) "Participating agency" means the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the Health and Human Services Commission, the Department of State Health Services, the Department of Aging and Disability Services, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, or the Office of Rural Community Affairs.

(6) "Service-enriched housing" means a living arrangement that provides health services or social services, or both, in an accessible, supportive environment.

(7) "Task force" means the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force.

Sec. 2306.1083. ADMINISTRATIVE AND RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. (a) A regulatory official has broad authority to administer, interpret, and enforce this subchapter.

(b) A rulemaking authority has broad authority to adopt rules to implement this subchapter to carry out the legislature's intent.

Sec. 2306.1084. COMPOSITION OF TASK FORCE. (a) The Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force is composed of:

(1) one representative from each of the following agencies, appointed by the head of that agency:

(A) the Health and Human Services Commission;

(B) the Department of State Health Services;

(C) the Department of Aging and Disability Services;

(D) the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services;

(E) the Public Utility Commission of Texas; and

(F) the Office of Rural Community Affairs.

(2) two representatives from the department, including the director and a person appointed by the director;

(3) one member representing advocacy organizations and service providers to homeless persons, appointed by the governor;

(4) one member representing advocacy organizations and service providers to elderly persons, appointed by the governor; and

(5) one member representing advocacy organizations and service providers to persons with disabilities, appointed by the governor.

(b) A member of the task force serves at the pleasure of the appointing official or until termination of the member's employment or association, as applicable, with the entity the member represents.

(c) A member of the task force representing a state agency must have:

(1) administrative responsibility for programs for homeless or elderly persons or persons with disabilities or related services provided by the agency that the member represents; and

(2) authority to make decisions for and commit resources of the agency, subject to the approval of the head of the agency or the board of directors of the agency.

Sec. 2306.1085. OPERATION OF TASK FORCE. (a) The director serves as the presiding officer of the task force.

(b) The task force shall meet at least quarterly.

(c) The task force shall keep minutes and records of attendance with respect to the meetings of the task force.

(d) An action taken by the task force must be approved by a majority vote of the members present.

(e) The task force may select and use advisors.

(f) The department shall provide clerical and advisory support staff to the task force.

(g) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the task force.

Sec. 2306.1086. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The task force may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from a public or private source for use in carrying out the task force's duties under this subchapter.

Sec. 2306.1087. DUTIES OF TASK FORCE. The task force shall:

(1) coordinate interdepartmental and interagency plans and develop and annually update a unified initiative plan to:

(A) not later than January 1, 2020, reduce by at least 20 percent the number of persons desiring and capable of living independently who are compelled to reside in Medicaid-supported nursing homes, state institutions, and publicly supported homeless shelters by making it possible for those persons to remain and live independently in noninstitutionalized housing, especially their own homes;

(B) ensure that the numbers of persons and households assisted under programs under this subchapter in each uniform state service region are in approximate proportion to the numbers of eligible persons and households residing in that uniform state service region;

(C) develop new, more cost-effective programs and strategies to use existing public and private resources to provide housing and reduce the residential energy cost burden on extremely low income homeless or elderly persons or persons with disabilities;

(D) affirmatively further fair housing opportunities by making available noninstitutionalized housing opportunities to extremely low income homeless or elderly persons or persons with disabilities; and

(E) coordinate housing and health services to meet the demands of extremely low income homeless or elderly persons or persons with disabilities by promoting service-enriched housing opportunities within a wide range of noninstitutionalized housing, including homes currently owned and rented by those persons to the extent possible;

(2) determine the programmatic approaches, levels of funding, and funding sources necessary to carry out the initiative plan;

(3) research housing needs and programs to achieve the goals of the initiative plan; and

(4) aggregate, analyze, and report the program initiatives and resource commitments of each participating agency with respect to activities under the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative and certify whether sufficient programs have been initiated and sufficient resources have been committed to meet the goals of the initiative plan.

Sec. 2306.1088. REPORT. (a) Not later than September 1, 2010, the task force shall submit a copy of the initiative plan, including an accounting of the funds allocated or expended and the number and geographic, demographic, and economic characteristics of persons served by each participating agency through the initiative plan, to:

(1) the governor;

(2) the lieutenant governor;

(3) the speaker of the house of representatives;

(4) the Legislative Budget Board;

(5) the legislative oversight committees for the department; and

(6) the legislative oversight committees for the Office of Rural Community Affairs.

(b) This section expires December 31, 2010.

Sec. 2306.1089. SERVICE-ENRICHED HOUSING INITIATIVE. (a) The task force shall plan and take necessary actions to improve coordination between housing and health services programs to increase state efforts to offer service-enriched housing, including:

(1) identifying barriers preventing or slowing service-enriched housing efforts, such as:

(A) regulatory, administrative, or funding barriers; or

(B) ineffective or limited coordination among state agencies;

(2) developing a system and plan to cross-educate selected staff in agencies represented on the task force and other state and local agencies to increase the number of staff with expertise in both housing and health services programs;

(3) identifying opportunities for state housing and health services agencies to provide technical assistance and training to local housing and health services entities regarding the cross-education of staff, agency and entity coordination, and opportunities to increase local efforts to create service-enriched housing;

(4) developing suggested performance measures to track progress in:

(A) reducing or eliminating barriers in creating service-enriched housing;

(B) increasing the coordination among housing and health services agencies;

(C) increasing the number of state housing and health services staff who have expertise in both housing and health services programs; and

(D) increasing the instances of state housing and health services staff providing technical assistance to local communities to increase the number of service-enriched housing projects; and

(5) implementing the related portions of the initiative plan and tracking the progress of implementation.

(b) In implementing program activities described by this section, the task force shall ensure that the provision of service-enriched housing is available to eligible persons on an equal basis whether they choose to move from their existing homes to noninstitutionalized housing developments with enriched services or whether they elect to receive the services in other noninstitutionalized housing. The task force shall act to ensure that no state action or policy forces an elderly person or a person with a disability to choose between living independently and obtaining services similar to those provided in an institutional setting.

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 487, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 487.062 to read as follows:

Sec. 487.062. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The office shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 531.0973 to read as follows:

Sec. 531.0973. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The commission shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306.

SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 2306.058 to read as follows:

Sec. 2306.058. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The department shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN.

SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 1001.076 to read as follows:

Sec. 1001.076. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The department shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, Government Code, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306, Government Code.

SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 117, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 117.075 to read as follows:

Sec. 117.075. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The department shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, Government Code, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306, Government Code.

SECTION 7. Subchapter D, Chapter 161, Human Resources Code, is amended by adding Section 161.076 to read as follows:

Sec. 161.076. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The department shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, Government Code, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306, Government Code.

SECTION 8. Subchapter A, Chapter 12, Utilities Code, is amended by adding Section 12.006 to read as follows:

Sec. 12.006. COMPLIANCE WITH TEXAS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVE. The commission shall designate a representative to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force under Section 2306.1084, Government Code, shall implement the plan enacted, and shall take all other actions required to achieve the goals of the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative under Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306, Government Code.

SECTION 9. As soon as possible after the effective date of this Act, the governor and the heads of the applicable state agencies shall appoint members to the Texas Affordable Housing Initiative Task Force in accordance with Subchapter NN, Chapter 2306, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.