BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 2204

By: Birdwell

Natural Resources

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill sponsor has informed the committee that there is a need to exempt certain programs under the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) from the Uniform Grant and Contract Management Act in order to uniformly apply the standards under that act. According to the TWDB, exempting the TWDB from this act will help eliminate operational inconsistencies, help enhance administrative efficiency, and help ensure continued alignment with established federal grant management frameworks. S.B. 2204 seeks to establish consistency within grant standard guidance by providing for exemptions from the Uniform Grant and Contract Management Act for contracts under provisions relating to the water assistance fund, the water loan assistance program, and the rural water assistance fund.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 2204 amends the Water Code to exempt from the Uniform Grant and Contract Management Act a contract under provisions relating to the water assistance fund or the rural water assistance fund. The bill expands the contracts under provisions relating to the water loan assistance program that are exempt from the act to include any contract under such provisions and not just those contracts that relate to an economically distressed area or nonborder colonia.

S.B. 2204 applies only to a contract entered into on or after the bill's effective date. A contract entered into before that date is governed by the law in effect immediately before the bill's effective date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.