88R2440 SCP-F
 
  By: Longoria, Morales of Maverick H.B. No. 540
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the award of library construction grants by the Texas
  State Library and Archives Commission.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 441.135(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The program of grants shall include one or more of the
  following:
               (1)  system operation grants, to:
                     (A)  provide basic system support services to
  member libraries;
                     (B)  provide coordination and enable cooperation
  with the commission and with other libraries in a region; and
                     (C)  meet commission and federal goals;
               (2)  incentive grants, to encourage public libraries to
  join together into larger units of service to meet commission and
  federal goals;
               (3)  establishment grants, to help libraries establish
  consortia or cooperatives that will enable libraries to better
  serve their communities;
               (4)  equalization grants, to help public libraries in
  communities with relatively limited taxable resources to meet
  commission and federal goals and qualify for library system
  membership;
               (5)  public information technology grants, to help
  public libraries make state, local, and federal government
  information that is accessible through the Internet available to
  the public through computers;
               (6)  competitive grants, to promote innovation by
  public libraries and by libraries described by Section 441.1271(a)
  and to encourage major resource systems or regional library systems
  and libraries to meet commission and federal goals; [and]
               (7)  grants to aid local libraries, to provide
  assistance to public libraries, and to help those libraries meet
  commission and federal goals; and
               (8)  construction grants, to encourage the
  establishment of new public libraries or the improvement of
  existing public libraries.
         SECTION 2.  Section 441.138, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  Libraries and library systems may use state grants for:
               (1)  materials;
               (2)  [,] personnel;
               (3)  [,] equipment;
               (4)  [,] administrative expenses;
               (5)  new construction, rehabilitation, or renovation
  of a library or the infrastructure of a library and associated
  expenses; [,] and
               (6)  financing programs that enrich the services and
  materials offered a community by its public library.
         (b-1)  State grants may not be used for site acquisition,
  [construction,] acquisition of buildings, or payment of past debts.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.