By: Nelson S.B. No. 2182

(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2019; March 21, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development; April 8, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 8, 2019, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility of certain events for funding under the Major Events Reimbursement Program.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 5A(a)(4), Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:

(4) "Event" means a Super Bowl, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four tournament game, the National Basketball Association All-Star Game, the X Games, the National Hockey League All-Star Game, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, a game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Bowl Championship Series or its successor or a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision postseason playoff or championship game, the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's or women's lacrosse championships, a World Cup Soccer game, the World Cup soccer tournament, the Major League Soccer All-Star Game, the Major League Soccer Cup, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association National Finals Rodeo, an Elite Rodeo Association World Championship, the United States Open Championship, the World Games, a national collegiate championship of an amateur sport sanctioned by the national governing body of the sport that is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee, an Olympic activity, including a Junior or Senior activity, training program, or feeder program sanctioned by the United States Olympic Committee's Community Olympic Development Program, the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games, a mixed martial arts championship, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, a Formula One automobile race, the Moto Grand Prix of the United States, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) All-Star Race, the season-ending Championship Race for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the Academy of Country Music Awards, the National Cutting Horse Association Triple Crown, a national political convention of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee, a presidential general election debate, or the largest event held each year at a sports entertainment venue in this state with a permanent seating capacity, including grandstand and premium seating, of not less than 125,000 as of September 1, 2019. The term includes any activities related to or associated with an event.

SECTION 2. Section 5A(a-2), Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:

(a-2) Subsection (a-1)(1) of this section does not apply to an event that is the largest event held each year at a sports entertainment venue in this state with a permanent seating capacity, including grandstand and premium seating, of not less than 125,000 as of September 1, 2019. If an endorsing municipality or endorsing county requests the department to make a determination under Subsection (b) of this section for an event described by this subsection, the provisions of this section apply to that event as if it satisfied the eligibility requirements for an event under Subsection (a-1)(1) of this section.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.

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