Bill Text: TX HB274 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Engrossed

Texas House Bill 274 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the disaster reinvestment and infrastructure planning board and the creation of the disaster reinvestment and infrastructure planning revolving fund; making an appropriation.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-04-29 - Received from the House [HB274 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB274-Engrossed.html



	By: Davis of Harris, Howard, Wu	H.B. No. 274



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the establishment of the disaster reinvestment and
	infrastructure planning board and the creation of the disaster
	reinvestment and infrastructure planning revolving fund; making an
	appropriation.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Chapter 17, Water Code, is amended by adding
	Subchapter H to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER H. DISASTER REINVESTMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING
	BOARD; REVOLVING FUND
	Sec. 17.801. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1) "Board" means, notwithstanding Section 17.001,
	the disaster reinvestment and infrastructure planning board.
	(2) "Fund" means the disaster reinvestment and
	infrastructure planning revolving fund.
	(3) "Trust company" means the Texas Treasury
	Safekeeping Trust Company.
	Sec. 17.802. ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE. The disaster
	reinvestment and infrastructure planning board is established to:
	(1) administer the disaster reinvestment and
	infrastructure planning revolving fund; and
	(2) determine the eligibility of applicants for
	financial assistance from the fund and award grants and loans from
	the fund.
	Sec. 17.803. COMPOSITION. (a) The board is composed of:
	(1) the following ex officio members:
	(A) a member of the Texas Water Development Board
	designated by the presiding officer of that board;
	(B) a member of the governing board of the Texas
	Department of Housing and Community Affairs designated by the
	presiding officer of that board;
	(C) the commissioner of insurance or the
	commissioner's designee;
	(D) a member of the Texas Transportation
	Commission designated by the presiding officer of the commission;
	(E) a member of the Public Safety Commission
	designated by the presiding officer of the commission;
	(F) the executive commissioner of the Health and
	Human Services Commission or the executive commissioner's
	designee;
	(G) the commissioner of agriculture or the
	commissioner's designee;
	(H) the land commissioner or the land
	commissioner's designee;
	(I) a member of the Texas Commission on
	Environmental Quality designated by the presiding officer of the
	commission; and
	(J) the comptroller or the comptroller's
	designee; and
	(2) three public members, one appointed by the
	governor, one appointed by the lieutenant governor, and one
	appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
	(b) Appointed board members serve staggered six-year terms
	with one member's term expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered
	year.
	(c) The governor shall designate one member of the board to
	serve as presiding officer of the board.
	Sec. 17.804. ADMINISTRATIVE ATTACHMENT. (a) The board is
	administratively attached to the Texas Water Development Board.
	(b) The Texas Water Development Board shall provide office
	space and administrative support services, including human
	resources, budgetary, accounting, purchasing, payroll, information
	technology, and legal support services, to the board as necessary
	to carry out the purposes of this subchapter.
	Sec. 17.805. FUND. (a) The disaster reinvestment and
	infrastructure planning revolving fund is a special fund outside
	the state treasury to be used by the board, without further
	legislative appropriation, for the purpose of providing financial
	assistance to political subdivisions in response to a disaster as
	provided by this subchapter. The board may establish separate
	accounts in the fund. The fund and the fund's accounts are kept and
	held by the trust company in escrow and in trust for and in the name
	of the board. The board has legal title to money and investments in
	the fund until money is disbursed from the fund as provided by this
	subchapter and board rules.
	(b) Money deposited to the credit of the fund may be used
	only as provided by this subchapter.
	(c) The fund consists of:
	(1) money transferred or deposited to the credit of
	the fund by law, including money from any source transferred or
	deposited to the credit of the fund at the board's discretion as
	authorized by law;
	(2) the proceeds of any fee or tax imposed by this
	state that by statute is dedicated for deposit to the credit of the
	fund;
	(3) any other revenue that the legislature by statute
	dedicates for deposit to the credit of the fund;
	(4) the proceeds of bonds issued as authorized by
	Section 49-q, Article III, Texas Constitution; and
	(5) investment earnings and interest earned on amounts
	credited to the fund.
	Sec. 17.806. MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT OF FUND. (a) The
	trust company shall hold and invest the fund, and any accounts
	established in the fund, for and in the name of the board, taking
	into account the purposes for which money in the fund may be used.
	The fund may be co-invested with the state treasury pool.
	(b) The overall objective for the investment of the fund is
	to maintain sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of the fund while
	striving to preserve the purchasing power of the fund. It is the
	intent of the legislature that the fund remain available in
	perpetuity for the purposes of this subchapter.
	(c) The trust company has any power necessary to accomplish
	the purposes of managing and investing the assets of the fund. In
	managing the assets of the fund, through procedures and subject to
	restrictions the trust company considers appropriate, the trust
	company may acquire, exchange, sell, supervise, manage, or retain
	any kind of investment that a prudent investor, exercising
	reasonable care, skill, and caution, would acquire or retain in
	light of the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other
	circumstances of the fund then prevailing, taking into
	consideration the investment of all the assets of the fund rather
	than a single investment.
	(d) The trust company may recover the costs incurred in
	managing and investing the fund only from the earnings of the fund.
	(e) The trust company annually shall report to the board
	with respect to the investment of the fund. The trust company shall
	contract with a certified public accountant to conduct an
	independent audit of the fund annually and shall present the
	results of each annual audit to the board. This subsection does not
	affect the state auditor's authority to conduct an audit of the fund
	under Chapter 321, Government Code.
	(f) The trust company shall adopt an investment policy that
	is appropriate for the fund. The trust company shall present the
	investment policy to the investment advisory board established
	under Section 404.028, Government Code. The investment advisory
	board shall submit to the trust company recommendations regarding
	the policy.
	(g) The board annually shall provide to the trust company a
	forecast of the cash flows into and out of the fund. The board shall
	provide updates to the forecasts as appropriate to ensure that the
	trust company is able to achieve the objective specified by
	Subsection (b).
	(h) The trust company shall disburse money from the fund as
	directed by the board.
	Sec. 17.807. USE OF MONEY IN FUND. (a) The board by rule
	shall establish a revolving loan and grant program to use money from
	the fund to provide financial assistance for a public
	infrastructure project to:
	(1) rebuild infrastructure damaged or destroyed in a
	disaster in a manner that protects against future loss; or
	(2) construct new infrastructure to mitigate against
	damage from a future disaster.
	(b) The board may provide financial assistance from the
	fund:
	(1) only in the form of:
	(A) a loan to a political subdivision that is
	located wholly or partly in an area declared by the governor to be a
	disaster area and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has
	determined is eligible to receive financial assistance from the
	agency in response to the disaster; or
	(B) a loan or grant to:
	(i) a political subdivision that is located
	wholly or partly in an area declared by the governor to be a
	disaster area and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has
	determined is not eligible to receive financial assistance from the
	agency in response to the disaster, including a political
	subdivision determined to be ineligible based solely on a failure
	to meet minimum population requirements; or
	(ii) a public or private hospital, other
	than an ambulatory surgical center:
	(a) located wholly or partly in an
	area declared by the governor to be a disaster area;
	(b) determined by federal agencies
	not to be eligible for assistance;
	(c) not eligible for private
	insurance assistance that is sufficient to restore the hospital to
	pre-disaster operating function; and
	(d) the closure of which would cause
	an imminent threat to public health in the surrounding area, as
	determined by the Department of State Health Services; and
	(2) only during the period for which the governor's
	disaster declaration is in effect or for a longer period determined
	by the board if the application for financial assistance is for a
	public infrastructure project described by Subsection (a)(1).
	(c) The board shall allocate money in the fund so that:
	(1) 50 percent of the money in the fund is available to
	provide loans under Subsection (b)(1)(A); and
	(2) the remainder of the money in the fund is available
	to provide loans or grants under Subsection (b)(1)(B).
	(d) The board may not use more than 25 percent of the money
	in the fund allocated for the purposes of Subsection (c)(2) to award
	grants to political subdivisions to:
	(1) assist in the payment of the political
	subdivision's costs associated with an infrastructure project; or
	(2) pay or defer the payment of the principal of and
	interest on a loan received from the fund by the political
	subdivision or extend the amount of time the political subdivision
	has to repay the loan.
	(e) The board may not provide financial assistance to
	rebuild or construct a privately owned structure, except as
	provided by Subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii).
	Sec. 17.808. LOANS FROM FUND. (a) A loan made from the fund
	must be subject to the following conditions:
	(1) the loan must be made at or below market interest
	rates for a term not to exceed 20 years;
	(2) principal and interest payments on the loan must
	begin not later than 18 months after the loan is originated; and
	(3) the loan proceeds must be expended solely on an
	infrastructure project described by Section 17.807(a).
	(b) The board shall credit to the fund all principal and
	interest payments on a loan from the fund.
	(c) The board by rule shall provide for interest rates on
	loans offered to political subdivisions to vary according to a risk
	analysis so that a political subdivision must pay a significantly
	higher interest rate than other political subdivisions if the
	political subdivision is, as determined by the board, likely to
	suffer significant additional damage in subsequent disasters.
	Sec. 17.809. GRANTS FROM FUND. (a) The board may not make a
	grant to a political subdivision that, based on information
	available to the board, has experienced repeated damage from
	disasters.
	(b) The board shall suspend the award of grants from the
	fund for the duration of a period during which the balance of the
	fund is less than a minimum fund balance established by board rule.
	Sec. 17.810. APPLICATION FOR LOAN OR GRANT. (a) The board
	shall develop and implement an application process for a loan or
	grant under this subchapter. At a minimum, the application must
	include:
	(1) a description of the infrastructure project for
	which the applicant is requesting the loan or grant, including
	information on the design life of the project;
	(2) an estimate of the total cost of the project;
	(3) an estimate of the amount of federal money the
	applicant expects to receive for the project, if any;
	(4) an estimate of the amount of money the applicant
	has available to finance the project, if any;
	(5) evidence that the applicant has staff, policies,
	and procedures in place adequate to complete the project;
	(6) information on the percentage of properties
	located within the political subdivision's jurisdiction that are
	covered by flood insurance, if the application is from a political
	subdivision; and
	(7) information regarding the protections from future
	disasters that have been incorporated into the siting or design of
	the project.
	(b) The board by rule shall adopt a point system to allow the
	board to prioritize certain applicants based on:
	(1) the type of infrastructure project for which the
	applicant is requesting the loan or grant and the stage of
	development of the project;
	(2) information provided by the applicants, or other
	information that is available to the board, including information
	regarding the applicants' ability to repay a loan from the fund;
	(3) the availability of other money, including state
	or federal matching funds, for the infrastructure project for which
	the applicant is requesting the loan or grant;
	(4) the existence of an emergency or an imminent
	threat to public health;
	(5) criteria that indicates the project incorporates
	natural features, nature-based engineering approaches, or
	characteristics that:
	(A) make positive impacts on the environment;
	(B) preserve or make efficient use of energy and
	associated resources; or
	(C) reduce negative impacts on the natural
	environment;
	(6) the percentage of properties located within the
	political subdivision's jurisdiction that are covered by flood
	insurance, if the applicant is a political subdivision;
	(7) the applicant's past history of and future risk for
	repeated damage from disasters, if the applicant is a political
	subdivision; and
	(8) other criteria developed by the board.
	(c) The board by rule shall provide an expedited proce
	dure
	for acting on an application for financial assistance from the fund
	for an infrastructure project. The expedited procedure must not
	affect an applicant's receipt of federal money to which the
	applicant may be eligible as a result of the disaster.
	Sec. 17.811. REPORT. Not later than December 1 of each
	even-numbered year, the board shall prepare and submit to the
	governor, the lieutenant governor, and each member of the
	legislature a report that includes:
	(1) the balance of the fund as of that date;
	(2) the total dollar amount of disbursements from the
	fund during the two-year period preceding that date; and
	(3) a general description of each public
	infrastructure project for which an applicant was awarded a grant
	or loan from the fund during the two-year period preceding that date
	and the approximate cost of each of those projects.
	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
	of this Act, the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
	house of representatives shall appoint members to the disaster
	reinvestment and infrastructure planning board, as required by
	Section 17.803, Water Code, as added by this Act. The governor
	shall appoint one member to a term expiring February 1, 2025. The
	lieutenant governor shall appoint one member to a term expiring
	February 1, 2023. The speaker of the house of representatives shall
	appoint one member to a term expiring February 1, 2021.
	SECTION 3. (a) The amount of $1 billion is appropriated
	from the economic stabilization fund to the comptroller for the
	purpose of transferring that amount immediately to the credit of
	the disaster reinvestment and infrastructure planning revolving
	fund as created by this Act.
	(b) This section takes effect only if this Act is approved
	by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each house of the
	legislature, as provided by Section 49-g(m), Article III, Texas
	Constitution.
	SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.