BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1002

By: Van de Putte

State Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Due in part to the presence of specialized burn treatment centers, San Antonio is home to a high number of veterans whose ability to regulate their body's core temperature is significantly impaired because of severe burns received in combat.  Interested parties contend that this large population of burned veterans, who have high utility bills resulting from the need to maintain cooler temperatures in their homes, merits a bill payment assistance program in recognition of the extraordinary utility situation resulting from their service to our nation.  S.B. 1002 seeks to address these issues by establishing provisions relating to the designation of program costs for providing bill payment assistance to certain military veterans as a necessary operating expense that is a first lien against revenue of certain electric and gas utilities' revenue securing certain public securities or obligations in order to add a new category of utility customers to a bill payment assistance program established by recent legislation.

 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.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1002 amends the Government Code to make the first lien against the revenue of an electric or gas utility system owned by a municipality with a population of more than one million that secures the payment of public securities issued or obligations incurred under provisions of law relating to public securities for municipal utilities, parks, or pools applicable to funding, as a necessary operations expense, for a bill payment assistance program for utility system customers who are military veterans who have significantly decreased abilities to regulate their bodies' core temperatures because of severe burns received in combat, in addition to funding for a bill payment assistance program for utility system customers who have been threatened with disconnection from service for nonpayment of bills and who have been determined by the municipality to be low-income customers.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.