BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 899

By: Israel

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that the inability of certain metropolitan transportation authorities to pursue a mortgage or other similar means of financing to pay for facilities hurts taxpayers in the long run, since the leasing of operations and maintenance facilities can impose a large financial burden on these authorities. C.S.H.B. 899 seeks to address this issue by providing for the issuance of bonds by such an authority to pay for certain facilities that would otherwise be leased.

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.

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

C.S.H.B. 899 amends the Transportation Code to limit to 10 years the term of a bond issued by the board of a metropolitan rapid transit authority confirmed before July 1, 1985, in which the principal municipality has a population of less than one million and to establish that such bonds are payable only from taxes or revenue received on or after the date the bonds are issued.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 899 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute decreases from 15 to 10 the number of years to which the bond term is limited.