BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	C.S.S.J.R. 82
88R23042 JXC-F	By: Johnson
	Business & Commerce
	4/13/2023
	Committee Report (Substituted)

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

All Texas residents, businesses, and communities rely on uninterrupted electrical power. The Texas Power Promise (TPP) fortifies Texas communities against sustained loss of electrical power and the resulting loss of critical and essential services, including food and fuel, water and wastewater facilities, emergency and non-emergency medical care, senior living centers, police and fire, and other emergency operations.

C.S.S.J.R. 82 provides for a temporary Texas constitutional amendment to be submitted to voters on the November 7, 2023, ballot that the state shall establish the Texas Power Resiliency Fund�a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund. S.J.R. 82 provides the constitutional authorization for this fund to be created and authorizes its management by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) if it is approved by voters as a constitutional amendment. The joint resolution designates that the money in this fund only be used by the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) for financing the operation of backup power sources and TDEM for procuring and deploying mobile sources of backup power. It also establishes that the fund consists of money transferred or deposited to the credit of the fund or by law, revenue that general law dedicates for deposit to the credit of the fund, and investment earnings and interest earned on money in the fund.

This joint resolution constitutionally dedicates the money in the Texas Power Resiliency Fund and any appropriations or state tax revenues for the purpose of depositing money to the credit of the fund.

Key Provisions:

C.S.S.J.R. 82 provides for a temporary Texas constitutional amendment to establish the Texas Power Resiliency Fund as a special fund to provide the funding specified in S.B. 2112.

C.S.S.J.R. 82 establishes that TDEM shall have primary and delegable authority to develop and administer the TPP.

C.S.S.J.R. 82 specifies that funding will come from money transferred or deposited to the credit of the fund by or as authorized by law and revenue, including the proceeds of any fee, assessment, or tax imposed by this state that is dedicated to this fund, and investment earnings and interest earned on money in the fund.

C.S.S.J.R. 82 requires that this proposed constitutional amendment be submitted to the voters at an election to be held on November 7, 2023.

Committee Substitute:

Replaces SECO with TDEM as administrator of the grants and loans program.

Makes technical changes requested by the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas regarding assets held by the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company.

C.S.S.J.R. 82 proposes a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas power resiliency fund to finance backup power sources.

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 Article III, Texas Constitution, by adding Section 49-q, as follows:

Sec. 49-q. (a) Provides that the Texas power resiliency fund (fund) is created as a special

fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund.

(b) Authorizes the money in the fund to be used without further appropriation and administered only by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) or TDEM's successor in function to procure and deploy mobile sources of backup power and to provide grants and loans to finance the operation of backup power sources.

(c) Authorizes the entity administering the fund to establish separate accounts in the fund as necessary or convenient for the fund's administration.

(d) Provides that the fund consists of:

(1) money credited, appropriated, or transferred to the fund by the legislature;

(2) revenue that the legislature dedicates for deposit to the credit of the fund;

(3) the returns received from the investment of the money in the fund; and

(4) gifts, grants, and donations contributed to the credit of the fund.

(e) Requires the reasonable expenses of managing the fund's assets to be paid from the fund.

(f) Provides that for the purposes of Section 22 (Restriction on Rate of Growth of Appropriations), Article VIII (Taxation and Revenue), of this constitution:

(1) money in the Texas power resiliency fund is dedicated by this constitution; and

(2) an appropriation of state tax revenues for the purpose of depositing money to the credit of the Texas power resiliency fund is treated as if it were an appropriation of revenues dedicated by this constitution.

SECTION 2. Requires that the proposed constitutional amendment be submitted to the voters at an election to be held on November 7, 2023. Sets forth the required language of the ballot.