H.B. No. 2792
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to housing authorities established by municipalities and
  counties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 392.005(c) and (d), Local Government
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  An exemption under this section for a multifamily
  residential development which is owned by [(i)] a public facility
  corporation created by a housing authority under Chapter 303, owned
  by [(ii)] a housing development corporation, or owned by [(iii)] a
  similar entity created by a housing authority and which does not
  have at least 20 percent of its units reserved for public housing
  units, rent-restricted units subsidized by a housing authority, or
  a combination of public housing and rent-restricted units, applies
  only if:
               (1)  the authority holds a public hearing, at a regular
  meeting of the authority's governing body, to approve the
  development; and
               (2)  at least 50 percent of the units in the multifamily
  residential development are reserved for occupancy by individuals
  and families earning less than 80 percent of the area median family
  income.
         (d)  For the purposes of Subsection (c), a "public housing
  unit":
               (1)  is a dwelling unit for which the owner:
                     (A)  receives a public housing operating subsidy;
  or
                     (B)  received a public housing operating subsidy,
  if the dwelling unit was subsequently converted through the Rental
  Assistance Demonstration program administered by the United States
  Department of Housing and Urban Development as specified by the
  Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012
  (Pub. L. No. 112-55) and its subsequent amendments; and
               (2)  [. It] does not include a unit for which payments
  are made to the landlord under the federal Section 8 Housing Choice
  Voucher Program unless the unit was converted under the Rental
  Assistance Demonstration program.
         SECTION 2.  Section 392.031(b), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A commissioner may not be an officer or employee of the
  municipality.  A commissioner may be:
               (1)  a tenant of a public project over which the housing
  authority has jurisdiction; or
               (2)  a [person who is a] recipient of housing
  assistance administered through the authority's housing choice
  voucher program or project-based rental assistance program.
         SECTION 3.  Section 392.0331, Local Government Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (b), (b-2), (g), and (h-1) and
  adding Subsection (b-3) to read as follows:
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b-1)
  and (b-2), in appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a
  municipality with a municipal housing authority composed of five
  commissioners shall appoint at least one commissioner to the
  authority who is a tenant of a public housing project over which the
  authority has jurisdiction or who is a recipient of housing
  assistance administered through the authority's housing choice
  voucher program or project-based rental assistance program.  Except
  as provided by Subsection (b-3) [(b-2)], in appointing
  commissioners under Section 392.031, a municipality with a
  municipal housing authority composed of seven or more commissioners
  shall appoint at least two commissioners to the authority who are
  tenants of a public housing project over which the authority has
  jurisdiction or who are recipients of housing assistance
  administered through the authority's housing choice voucher
  program or project-based rental assistance program.
         (b-2)  This subsection applies only to a municipality that
  has a population over 600,000 and is located adjacent to the
  international border of this state. In appointing commissioners
  under Section 392.031, a municipality described by this subsection
  that has a municipal housing authority composed of five
  commissioners shall appoint at least one commissioner to the
  authority who is:
               (1)  a tenant of a public housing project over which the
  authority has jurisdiction; or
               (2)  a recipient of housing assistance administered
  through the authority's housing choice voucher program or
  project-based rental assistance program.
         (b-3)  In appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a
  municipality that has a population over two million and a municipal
  housing authority composed of seven or more commissioners shall
  appoint at least two commissioners to the authority who are:
               (1)  tenants of a public housing project over which the
  authority has jurisdiction; or
               (2)  recipients of housing assistance administered
  through the authority's housing choice voucher program.
         (g)  A commissioner appointed under this section may not
  participate:
               (1)  in any vote or discussion concerning the
  termination of:
                     (A)  the commissioner's occupancy rights in
  public housing;
                     (B)  the commissioner's rights to housing
  assistance administered through a housing choice voucher program or
  a project-based rental assistance program; or
                     (C)  the rights of any person related in the first
  degree by consanguinity to the commissioner with respect to the
  person's occupancy rights in public housing or right to receive
  housing assistance administered through a housing choice voucher
  program or a project-based rental assistance program; or
               (2)  in a grievance or administrative hearing in which
  the commissioner or a person related in the first degree by
  consanguinity to the commissioner is a party.
         (h-1)  If a commissioner appointed under this section as a
  recipient of housing assistance administered through the
  authority's housing choice voucher program or project-based rental
  assistance program ceases to receive that assistance, a majority of
  the other commissioners shall decide whether to request that a new
  commissioner be appointed.  A majority of the commissioners may
  decide to allow the commissioner to serve the remaining portion of
  the commissioner's term.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2792 was passed by the House on April
  27, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 6, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2792 on May 25, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 133, Nays 11,
  3 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2792 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 20, Nays
  11.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor