87R7918 JAM-D
 
  By: Coleman H.B. No. 2317
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the inclusion of affordable housing as a qualifying
  project for public-private partnerships.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 2267.001(10), Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (10)  "Qualifying project" means:
                     (A)  any ferry, mass transit facility, vehicle
  parking facility, port facility, power generation facility, fuel
  supply facility, oil or gas pipeline, water supply facility, public
  work, waste treatment facility, hospital, school, medical or
  nursing care facility, recreational facility, affordable housing,
  public building, technology facility, or other similar facility
  currently available or to be made available to a governmental
  entity for public use, including any structure, parking area,
  appurtenance, and other property required to operate the structure
  or facility and any technology infrastructure installed in the
  structure or facility that is essential to the project's purpose;
  or
                     (B)  any improvements necessary or desirable to
  real property owned by a governmental entity.
         SECTION 2.  Section 2267.002(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  The legislature finds that:
               (1)  there is a public need for timely acquisition,
  design, construction, improvement, renovation, expansion,
  equipping, maintenance, operation, implementation, and
  installation of education facilities, affordable housing,
  technology and other public infrastructure, and government
  facilities in this state that serve a public need and purpose;
               (2)  the public need may not be wholly satisfied by
  existing methods of procurement in which qualifying projects are
  acquired, designed, constructed, improved, renovated, expanded,
  equipped, maintained, operated, implemented, or installed;
               (3)  there are inadequate resources to develop new
  education facilities, affordable housing, technology and other
  public infrastructure, and government facilities for the benefit of
  the citizens of this state, and there is demonstrated evidence that
  partnerships between public entities and private entities or other
  persons can meet these needs by improving the schedule for
  delivery, lowering the cost, and providing other benefits to the
  public;
               (4)  financial incentives exist under state and federal
  tax provisions that encourage public entities to enter into
  partnerships with private entities or other persons to develop
  qualifying projects; and
               (5)  authorizing private entities or other persons to
  develop or operate one or more qualifying projects may serve the
  public safety, benefit, and welfare by making the projects
  available to the public in a more timely or less costly fashion.
         SECTION 3.  Section 2267.003, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 2267.003.  APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter does not
  apply to:
               (1)  the financing, design, construction, maintenance,
  or operation of a highway in the state highway system;
               (2)  a transportation authority operating under
  Chapter 451, 452, 453, or 460, Transportation Code, other than a
  metropolitan rapid transit authority operating under Chapter 451,
  Transportation Code, in which the principal municipality has a
  population of 1.9 million or more;
               (3)  any telecommunications, cable television, video
  service, or broadband infrastructure other than technology
  installed as part of a qualifying project that is essential to the
  project; or
               (4)  except as provided by Section 2165.259, a
  qualifying project located in the Capitol Complex, as defined by
  Section 443.0071.
         (b)  A qualifying project for affordable housing may be
  developed or operated only in a county with a population of more
  than 3.3 million.
         SECTION 4.  Section 2267.001(10), Government Code, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a qualifying project for which
  an agreement is entered into on or after the effective date of this
  Act.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.