BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2971

By: Holland

Land & Resource Management

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In 2004, the Save Texas History program was created to rally public support and private funding for the preservation and promotion of historic maps and documents in the archives of the General Land Office (GLO). C.S.H.B. 2971 seeks to assist the GLO in furthering its preservation, conservation, acquisition, and education-related responsibilities by, among other things, expanding the purposes for which the GLO may use certain funds received through the administration of the program.

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. 2971 amends the Natural Resources Code to replace the requirement for the commissioner of the General Land Office (GLO) to prepare a revision and compilation of the various volumes of the abstracts of patented, titled, and surveyed real property previously made by the GLO with an authorization for the commissioner to do so. The bill replaces the requirement for counties to be apportioned into one of not more than eight districts for the purpose of revising and compiling the abstracts of each of the districts to then be compiled in a separate volume with an authorization for the counties to be apportioned into districts, without regard to the number of districts, for that purpose.

C.S.H.B. 2971 authorizes the GLO to use cash, gifts, grants, donations, or in-kind contributions the GLO receives through the administration of the Save Texas History program to:

· preserve, conserve, and promote GLO records;

· provide educational programming and resources on Texas history; and

· acquire additional records to complement GLO records.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2971 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 does not include the solicitation of donations for the preservation, conservation, and promotion of GLO records as a purpose for which the GLO may use cash, gifts, grants, donations, or in-kind contributions the GLO receives through the administration of the Save Texas History program.