Amend SB 2 (house committee report) as follows:
(1) On page 37, line 12, before "BOARDS OF DIRECTORS OF APPRAISAL DISTRICTS" add "REFORMS TO THE PROPERTY TAX SYSTEM, INCLUDING PROPERTY TAX RELIEF TO RENTERS AND ELECTIONS OF"
(2) Add the following appropriately numbered SECTION to ARTICLE 5 of the bill and renumber subsequent SECTIONS and references to those SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Chapter 5, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 5.17 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.17. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF TO RENTAL HOUSEHOLDS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Fund" means the property tax relief to rental households fund established under Section 30, Article VIII, Texas Constitution.
(2) "Rental household" means a household that rents the household's primary residence.
(b) The comptroller by rule shall establish a program to provide annual payments to eligible rental households in an amount determined under this section from money appropriated to the comptroller for that purpose from the fund.
(c) A rental household is eligible to receive a payment under this section if the rental household:
(1) has paid rent for the rental household's primary residence in the 12 calendar months of the year for which the rental household applies for the payment; and
(2) submits an application for the payment before a date prescribed by comptroller rule.
(d) Not later than February 1 of each year, each person who owns real property and leases that property to a rental household for use as that household's primary residence shall file with the comptroller an affidavit stating the number of monthly payments received and the amount of rent received by the person from the rental household during the preceding calendar year.
(e) Subject to Subsection (f), an eligible rental household is entitled to receive a payment under this section each year on a date prescribed by comptroller rule in an amount equal to 10 percent of the total amount of rent the rental household paid for their primary residence during the preceding calendar year up to a maximum payment of $2500.
(f) If the comptroller determines that the total amount of payments from the fund to eligible rental households in a year as determined under Subsection (e) would exceed an amount equal to 50 percent of the balance of the fund, the comptroller shall proportionally reduce the amount of the payment to each eligible rental household for that year by the amount necessary to prevent the total amount of payments from the fund in that year from exceeding 50 percent of the balance of the fund.
(g) The comptroller:
(1) by rule shall establish the procedure and prescribe a form to be used by a rental household to apply for a payment authorized by this section and a form to be used to certify rent paid and the number of monthly payments by a person who owns real property and leases that property to a rental household for use as that household's primary residence; and
(2) may adopt additional rules necessary for the implementation and administration of this section.
(3) On page 56, line 21, strike "(b) and (c)" and substitute "(b), (c), and (d)".
(4) On page 57, after line 2, insert the following:
(d) Section 5.17, Tax Code, as added by Article 5 of this Act, takes effect on March 1, 2024.