Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB885 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R4937 ALB-F
2	2	By: Naishtat H.B. No. 885
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation of the individual development account
8	8	program to provide savings incentives and opportunities for
9	9	eligible persons to pursue home ownership, postsecondary
10	10	education, and business development.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 487, Government Code, is amended by
13	13	adding Subchapter Y to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER Y. ASSET DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE FOR CERTAIN
15	15	ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS
16	16	Sec. 487.1151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
17	17	(1) "Assets for Independence Act" means the federal
18	18	Assets for Independence Act (42 U.S.C. Section 604 note).
19	19	(2) "Financial institution" has the meaning assigned
20	20	by Section 201.101, Finance Code.
21	21	(3) "Individual development account" means a deposit
22	22	account established by a participant at a financial institution
23	23	selected by a sponsoring organization.
24	24	(4) "Participant" means an individual or household
25	25	that has entered into an agreement with a sponsoring organization
26	26	to participate in the program.
27	27	(5) "Program" means the individual development
28	28	account program established under this subchapter.
29	29	(6) "Service provider" means a person to whom a
30	30	qualified expenditure from a participant's individual development
31	31	account is made. The term includes:
32	32	(A) a public or private institution of higher
33	33	education;
34	34	(B) a provider of occupational or vocational
35	35	education, including a proprietary school;
36	36	(C) a mortgage lender;
37	37	(D) a title insurance company;
38	38	(E) the lessor or vendor of office supplies or
39	39	equipment or retail space, office space, or other business space;
40	40	and
41	41	(F) any other provider of goods or services used
42	42	for the start of a business.
43	43	(7) "Sponsoring organization" has the meaning
44	44	assigned to "qualified entity" by Section 404(7), Assets for
45	45	Independence Act.
46	46	Sec. 487.1152. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM; RULES. (a) The
47	47	board by rule may develop and implement a program under which:
48	48	(1) individual development accounts are facilitated
49	49	and administered by sponsoring organizations for eligible
50	50	individuals and households to provide those individuals and
51	51	households with an opportunity to accumulate assets and to
52	52	facilitate and mobilize savings;
53	53	(2) sponsoring organizations are provided grant funds
54	54	for use in administering the program and matching qualified
55	55	expenditures made by program participants; and
56	56	(3) at least 85 percent of the grant funds described by
57	57	Subdivision (2) must be used by the sponsoring organization for
58	58	matching qualified expenditures.
59	59	(b) The office shall contract with sponsoring organizations
60	60	to facilitate the establishment of and to administer the individual
61	61	development accounts in accordance with the rules adopted by the
62	62	board. The board's rules must include guidelines for contract
63	63	monitoring, reporting, termination, and recapture of state funds.
64	64	(c) In adopting rules under the program, the board shall
65	65	state the selection criteria for sponsoring organizations and give
66	66	priority to organizations that:
67	67	(1) serve rural areas; or
68	68	(2) have demonstrated:
69	69	(A) a capacity to administer individual
70	70	development account programs; or
71	71	(B) a commitment to serve areas of this state
72	72	that currently do not have individual development account programs
73	73	available.
74	74	Sec. 487.1153. PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY. The board by rule
75	75	shall establish eligibility criteria for participation in the
76	76	program that are consistent with the purposes of the program and
77	77	with the Assets for Independence Act.
78	78	Sec. 487.1154. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY
79	79	PARTICIPANT. (a) A participant may contribute to the
80	80	participant's individual development account.
81	81	(b) A participant's contributions to the participant's
82	82	individual development account shall accrue interest.
83	83	(c) A participant may withdraw money from the participant's
84	84	account only to pay for the following qualified expenditures:
85	85	(1) postsecondary educational or training expenses
86	86	for the adult account holder and dependent children;
87	87	(2) the expenses of purchasing or financing a home for
88	88	the adult account holder for the first time;
89	89	(3) the expenses of a self-employment enterprise; and
90	90	(4) start-up business expenses for the adult account
91	91	holder.
92	92	Sec. 487.1155. DUTIES OF SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS. (a)
93	93	The board shall adopt rules to establish the duties of sponsoring
94	94	organizations under the program.
95	95	(b) Each sponsoring organization shall provide to the
96	96	office any information necessary to evaluate the sponsoring
97	97	organization's performance in fulfilling the duties outlined in the
98	98	board's rules.
99	99	Sec. 487.1156. MATCHING FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT AND
100	100	AVAILABILITY. (a) At the time a participant in the program makes a
101	101	withdrawal from the participant's individual development account
102	102	for a qualified expenditure described by Section 487.1154(c), the
103	103	participant shall receive matching funds from the sponsoring
104	104	organization, payable directly to the service provider.
105	105	(b) The amount of federal matching funds spent for each
106	106	individual development account may not exceed the limits
107	107	established by the Assets for Independence Act.
108	108	(c) This subchapter may not be construed to create an
109	109	entitlement of a participant to receive matching funds. The number
110	110	of participants who receive matching funds under the program in any
111	111	year is limited by the amount of funds available for that purpose in
112	112	that year.
113	113	Sec. 487.1157. WITHDRAWALS; TERMINATION OF ACCOUNT FOR
114	114	UNQUALIFIED WITHDRAWALS. (a) The board by rule shall establish
115	115	guidelines to ensure that a participant does not withdraw money
116	116	from the participant's individual development account, except for a
117	117	qualified expenditure described by Section 487.1154(c).
118	118	(b) The sponsoring organization shall instruct the
119	119	financial institution to terminate a participant's account if the
120	120	participant does not comply with the guidelines established by
121	121	board rule.
122	122	(c) A participant whose individual development account is
123	123	terminated under this section is entitled to withdraw from the
124	124	participant's account the amount of money the participant
125	125	contributed to the account and any interest that has accrued on that
126	126	amount.
127	127	Sec. 487.1158. FUNDING. (a) The legislature may
128	128	appropriate money for the purposes of this subchapter.
129	129	(b) The office may accept gifts, grants, and donations from
130	130	any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter.
131	131	Sec. 487.1159. COORDINATION. The office shall:
132	132	(1) serve as a clearinghouse for information relating
133	133	to state and local and public and private programs that facilitate
134	134	asset development; and
135	135	(2) post the information described by Subdivision (1)
136	136	on the office's Internet website.
137	137	Sec. 487.1160. INTERAGENCY CONTRACTS. The office may enter
138	138	into interagency contracts with other state agencies to facilitate
139	139	the effective administration of this subchapter.
140	140	Sec. 487.1161. AGENCY COOPERATION. To the extent allowed
141	141	by law, the Health and Human Services Commission shall provide
142	142	information to the office as necessary to implement this
143	143	subchapter.
144	144	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.