81R7604 JSA-D

By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2240

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the financing of educational facilities by higher education authorities and the governance of certain higher education authorities.

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

SECTION 1. Section 53.40, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 53.40. APPROVAL OF BONDS; REGISTRATION; NEGOTIABILITY. (a) Bonds issued under this chapter and the record relating to their issuance shall be submitted to the attorney general, and if the attorney general [he] finds that they have been issued in accordance with this chapter and constitute valid and binding obligations of the authority and are secured as recited therein, the attorney general [he] shall approve them, and they shall be registered by the comptroller of public accounts, who shall certify the registration thereon. Thereafter they are incontestable. The bonds shall be negotiable and shall contain the following provision: "The holder hereof shall never have the right to demand payment thereof out of money raised or to be raised by taxation."

(b) When the bonds and the record relating to their issuance are submitted to the attorney general, the authority shall deliver notice of that action to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the Legislative Budget Board. The notice must include the amount of the bonds to be issued and a description of the facilities to be financed from the bond proceeds.

SECTION 2. Section 53A.02(6), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(6) "Educational facility" means a classroom building, laboratory, science building, recreational facility, faculty or administrative office building, or other facility used exclusively for the conduct of the educational and administrative functions of an institution of higher education.

SECTION 3. Section 53A.14, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(c) [No officer or employee of any such city is eligible for appointment as a director.] Directors are not entitled to compensation for services but are entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in performing such service.

(d) The board shall meet regularly at the call of the presiding officer of the board.

SECTION 4. 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.