BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.B. 2168
	By: Watson
	Transportation
	6/20/2019
	Enrolled

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

A small number of Texas counties have suffered repeated disasters in a short period of time, draining local government resources and reducing tax revenue streams.

 

Statute requires local communities to provide matching funds for right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation for Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) projects. Statute further authorizes TxDOT to offer economically disadvantaged counties a reduced local match requirement.

 

S.B. 2168 would create an additional set of criteria for counties devastated by federally declared disasters to participate in the economic disadvantaged counties program for a period of time. These criteria are: a county must have been designated an economically disadvantaged county in the past six years and been included in a minimum of five federally declared disasters within that same time frame. (Original Author's/Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

 

S.B. 2168 amends current law relating to relief from local matching funds requirements for certain counties.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 222.053, Transportation Code, by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2), as follows:

 

(a-1) Provides that, notwithstanding Subsection (a) (relating to defining "economically disadvantaged county"), a county is considered to be an "economically disadvantaged county" for the purposes of this section (Relief From Local Matching Funds Requirement) if it meets the criteria as laid out in Subsection (a) within the past six years and has been included in no less than five federally declared disasters within the same time period.

 

(a-2) Requires the adjustment to the local matching funds requirement, for a county described by Subsection (a-1), to be equivalent to the highest adjustment rate set in the last year the county was considered to meet the criteria described by Subsection (a).

 

SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2019. �