BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 1752 |
By: Goldman |
Investments & Financial Services |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
There are concerns regarding the amount of bond debt voters were recently asked to approve for independent school districts across Texas. Bonds are issued for the construction and renovation of facilities, the acquisition of land, and the purchase of capital items such as equipment. However, interested parties contend that the purchase of capital items should be limited to items with a life expectancy equal to or greater than the term of the bond. The parties note that, in the past several years, school district bond issuances have significantly increased, and it is not clear for what and how the issued bonds can be used. C.S.H.B. 1752 aims to provide clarity and structure to this debt finance tool.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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
C.S.H.B. 1752 amends the Education Code to create an exception to the requirement that independent school district bonds mature serially or otherwise not more than 40 years from their date if the expected useful life of the asset acquired with bond proceeds is less than 40 years, in which case the bill requires bonds to mature serially or otherwise not later than the last year of the expected useful life of the acquired asset. The bill establishes that the expected useful life of an asset is determined based on the depreciable life of the asset under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The bill restricts the authorized uses of interest earned on school district bond proceeds to payment of the principal of and interest on the bonds.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1752 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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