Bill Text: TX HB4459 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the addition of certain provisions to the Texas Rural Investment Fund.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-26 - Referred to Agriculture & Livestock [HB4459 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB4459-Introduced.html
| By: Meza | H.B. No. 4459 | |
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| relating to the addition of certain provisions to the Texas Rural | ||
| Investment Fund. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 12.046, Agriculture Code, is amended by | ||
| adding to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 12.046. TEXAS RURAL INVESTMENT FUND. (a) In this | ||
| section: | ||
| (1) "Fund" means the Texas Rural Investment Fund. | ||
| (2) "Rural community" means a municipality with a | ||
| population of less than 50,000 or a county with a population of less | ||
| than 200,000. | ||
| (b) The fund is a dedicated account in the general revenue | ||
| fund and consists of: | ||
| (1) appropriations of money to the fund by the | ||
| legislature; | ||
| (2) gifts, grants, including federal grants, and other | ||
| donations received for the fund; and | ||
| (3) interest earned on the investment of money in the | ||
| fund. | ||
| (b-1) The department shall administer the fund and select | ||
| recipients of grants and loans from the fund. | ||
| (c) The fund may be used by the department only to: | ||
| (1) pay for grants or loans to public or private | ||
| entities for projects in rural communities that have strong local | ||
| support, provide positive return on the state's investment, and | ||
| stimulate one or more of the following: | ||
| (A) local entrepreneurship; | ||
| (B) job creation or retention; | ||
| (C) new capital investment; | ||
| (D) strategic economic development planning; | ||
| (E) individual economic and community | ||
| development leadership training; | ||
| (F) housing development; |
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| (G) innovative workforce education; |
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| (H) workforce training and/or rehabilitative | ||
| programming for veterans; or | ||
| (I) preservation and cultivation of pollinators | ||
| critical to agriculture; and | ||
| (2) administer the grant and loan program under this | ||
| section. | ||
| (d) In awarding a grant or loan of money from the fund for a | ||
| project, the department shall consider: | ||
| (1) the project's effect on job creation and wages; | ||
| (2) the financial strength of the applicant; | ||
| (3) the applicant's business history; | ||
| (4) an analysis of the relevant business sector; | ||
| (5) whether there is public or private sector | ||
| financial support for the project; and | ||
| (6) whether there is local support for the project. | ||
| (e) The fund is exempt from the application of Sections | ||
| 403.095 and 404.071, Government Code. | ||
| (f) The department may accept grants, gifts, or donations | ||
| from any source that are made for the purposes of this section. | ||
| Money received under this subsection shall be deposited in the | ||
| fund. | ||
| (g) The department shall adopt rules to administer this | ||
| section. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
