By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 593
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the governance of certain housing authorities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  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 2.  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.  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.
         (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 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.