81R5974 JTS-F
By: Hunter H.B. No. 2252
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to grants for local areas adversely affected by a
reduction in defense-related activity.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 486.002(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall establish criteria and procedures
and award grants equitably based on evaluations. In awarding
grants under this chapter, the commission shall give a preference
to:
(1) adversely affected defense communities over
positively affected defense communities; and
(2) any municipality with a population of less than
20,000 that is a defense community.
SECTION 2. Section 486.003(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A municipality or county is an adversely affected
defense community if the department determines that:
(1) the municipality or county includes within its
boundaries a defense facility that the department of defense or
applicable military department has publicly proposed for closure or
realignment; or
(2) the municipality or county:
(A) requires assistance because of:
(i) the proposed or actual establishment,
realignment, or closure of a defense facility;
(ii) the cancellation or termination of a
United States Department of Defense contract or the failure of the
department of defense to proceed with an approved major weapon
system program;
(iii) a publicly announced planned major
reduction in department of defense spending that would directly and
adversely affect the municipality or county; or
(iv) the closure or a significant reduction
of the operations of a defense facility as the result of a merger,
acquisition, or consolidation of a defense contractor operating the
facility; and
(B) is expected to experience, during the period
between the beginning of the federal fiscal year during which an
event described by Subdivision (2)(A) is finally approved and the
date that the event is to be substantially completed, a direct loss
of:
(i) 2,500 or more defense worker jobs in any
area of the municipality or county that is located in an urbanized
area of a metropolitan statistical area;
(ii) 1,000 or more defense worker jobs in
any area of the municipality or county that is not located in an
urbanized area of a metropolitan statistical area; [or]
(iii) defense worker jobs representing one
percent of the jobs in the municipality or county; or
(iv) tax or utility revenue as a result of
the closure or realignment of a defense facility.
SECTION 3. Section 486.004(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) From money appropriated for this purpose, the
commission may make a grant to an eligible local governmental
entity to:
(1) allow the entity to meet a matching money or
investment requirement in order to receive from the United States
assistance that is provided to allow the local governmental entity
to respond to or recover from an event described by Section
486.003(b)(1);
(2) match the entity's contribution for a purpose
described in Section 486.005 on a closed or realigned defense
facility; [or]
(3) plan or construct infrastructure and other
projects necessary to accommodate the new or expanded military
missions at a military facility located in or near the local
governmental entity; or
(4) offset tax or utility revenue lost by a
municipality or county that is a defense community as a result of
closure or realignment of a defense facility.
SECTION 4. Section 486.005, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) The local governmental entity may use the proceeds of
the grant for:
(1) purchase of property from the department of
defense or its designated agent;
(2) planning for redevelopment of a defense facility
after closure or realignment;
(3) [,] new construction, rehabilitation, or
renovation of facilities or infrastructure;[,] or
(4) purchase of capital equipment or facilities
insurance.
(d) A municipality or county that is a defense community may
use the proceeds of the grant to offset tax or utility revenue lost
by the municipality or county as a result of the closure or
realignment of a defense facility.
SECTION 5. Section 486.008, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 486.008. EVALUATION OF APPLICATION. The panel shall
evaluate each application and assign the applicant a score based
on:
(1) the significance of the adverse or positive effect
within the local governmental entity, including:
(A) the number of jobs [lost or gained in
relation to the workforce] in the local governmental entity's
jurisdiction that are directly or indirectly affected by the
closure or realignment of a defense facility, considered as a
percentage of the workforce in the local governmental entity's
jurisdiction; and
(B) the effect on the area's economy and tax and
utility revenue;
(2) the extent to which the local governmental entity
has used its existing resources to promote local economic
development;
(3) the amount of any grant that the local
governmental entity has previously received under this chapter;
(4) the anticipated number of jobs to be created in
relation to the amount of the grant sought; [and]
(5) the extent to which the grant will affect the
region in which the local governmental entity is located; and
(6) the extent to which the grant is needed to offset
tax or utility revenue lost by a municipality or county that is a
defense community as a result of the closure or realignment of a
defense facility.
SECTION 6. 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, 2009.