The bill would allow at or below market interest rate grants or loans
administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) for Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) projects to be made for projects serving rural areas rather than areas outside of a metropolitan statistical area.
The bill repeals Section 2.03 of Chapter 947 (Senate Bill 7), Acts of the Eighty-Sixth Legislature, Regular Session, 2019 and consolidates provisions related to the use of the FIF. The provisions state that after the adoption of the first statewide flood plan, the FIF may only be used to provide financing for flood projects included in the state flood plan. FIF money may also be awarded to several eligible political subdivisions for a single project.
The bill repeals Section 3.06 of Chapter 947 (Senate Bill 7), Acts of the Eighty-Sixth Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, eliminating the Flood Plan Implementation subaccount of the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund (TIRF). Under current law, any remaining funds on September 1, 2031 in the Hurricane Harvey subaccount of TIRF would be deposited to the Flood Plan Implementation subaccount of TIRF. The bill would direct this remaining balance to instead be transferred to the FIF on September 1, 2031.
Based on information provided by TWDB and the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined because future amounts that would be transferred to FIF from the TIRF are unknown at this time.
This legislation would do one or more of the following: create or recreate a dedicated account in the General Revenue Fund, create or recreate a special or trust fund either with or outside of the Treasury, or create a dedicated revenue source. The fund, account, or revenue dedication included in this bill would be subject to funds consolidation review by the current Legislature.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2023.