S.B. No. 1655
AN ACT
relating to the organization, duties, and functions of the Texas
Veterans Commission and to providing funding for assistance for
veterans through a lottery game.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 434.014, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive director or the executive director's
designee shall develop a career ladder program. The program must
require that openings in all positions except entry level positions
be posted within the commission concurrently with any [for at least
10 days before they are posted for the] public posting.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 434.0161 and 434.021 to read as follows:
Sec. 434.0161. USE OF FUNDS TO SUPPORT OUTREACH AND
TRAINING. The commission may use appropriated funds to purchase,
for use at outreach and training functions:
(1) promotional items that include the agency's name
and contact information to be distributed to veterans; and
(2) food and beverages.
Sec. 434.021. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE
COMMISSION. Information received by the commission that is
confidential under Chapter 552 remains confidential regardless of
the format in which the commission maintains the information.
SECTION 3. Subsections (a) and (e), Section 434.017,
Government Code, as amended by Chapter 1418 (H.B. 3107), Acts of the
80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, are amended to read as
follows:
(a) The fund for veterans' assistance is a special fund in
the state treasury outside the general revenue fund. The fund is
composed of:
(1) money transferred to the fund at the direction of
the legislature;
(2) gifts and grants contributed to the fund; [and]
(3) the earnings of the fund; and
(4) money transferred to the fund from proceeds of the
lottery game operated under Section 466.027 or transferred to the
fund under Section 466.408(b).
(e) The commission [comptroller] may solicit, [and] accept,
or refuse a gift or grant of money, services, or property for any
purpose related to the fund for veterans' assistance [gifts and
grants to the fund]. A gift or grant to the fund may be appropriated
in the same manner as other money in the fund, subject to any
limitation or requirement placed on the gift or grant by the donor
or granting entity.
SECTION 4. (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 466, Government Code,
is amended by adding Section 466.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 466.027. VETERANS' ASSISTANCE GAME. (a) The
commission shall operate an instant-ticket lottery game to benefit
the fund for veterans' assistance established by Section 434.017,
as amended by Chapter 1418 (H.B. 3107), Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007.
(b) The commission shall:
(1) determine the ticket price, payout amounts, and
manner in which the game is conducted;
(2) make tickets to the game available for sale
continuously to the extent practicable; and
(3) change the design or theme of the game regularly to
ensure that the game remains competitive with other instant-ticket
lottery games offered by the commission.
(c) The commission shall market and advertise the lottery
game operated under this section in a manner intended to inform the
public that the game tickets are available for purchase and that the
game proceeds are used to fund veterans programs in this state. The
game tickets must clearly state that the game proceeds are used to
benefit the veterans in this state. The Texas Veterans Commission
may make recommendations to the Texas Lottery Commission relating
to the marketing and advertising of the game.
(d) The commission shall encourage each sales agent that
sells tickets to instant-ticket games or similar types of lottery
games to sell tickets to the game operated under this section.
(e) No organization that would otherwise be eligible to
receive funds from the state lottery account attributable to any
lottery game authorized by this section may receive any such funds
if it conducts illegal gambling or the illegal operation of
gambling devices as defined by Chapter 47, Penal Code, or allows
illegal gambling or the illegal operation of gambling devices to be
conducted on its property or in its facilities.
(b) This section takes effect only if Senate Bill No. 1969,
Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, does not
become law.
SECTION 5. (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 466, Government Code,
is amended by adding Section 466.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 466.027. VETERANS' ASSISTANCE GAME. (a) The
commission shall operate an instant-ticket lottery game to benefit
the fund for veterans' assistance established by Section 434.017.
(b) The commission shall:
(1) determine the ticket price, payout amounts, and
manner in which the game is conducted;
(2) make tickets to the game available for sale
continuously to the extent practicable; and
(3) change the design or theme of the game regularly to
ensure that the game remains competitive with other instant-ticket
lottery games offered by the commission.
(c) The commission shall market and advertise the lottery
game operated under this section in a manner intended to inform the
public that the game tickets are available for purchase and that the
game proceeds are used to fund veterans programs in this state. The
game tickets must clearly state that the game proceeds are used to
benefit the veterans in this state. The Texas Veterans Commission
may make recommendations to the Texas Lottery Commission relating
to the marketing and advertising of the game.
(d) The commission shall encourage each sales agent that
sells tickets to instant-ticket games or similar types of lottery
games to sell tickets to the game operated under this section.
(e) No organization that would otherwise be eligible to
receive funds from the state lottery account attributable to any
lottery game authorized by this section may receive any such funds
if it conducts illegal gambling or the illegal operation of
gambling devices as defined by Chapter 47, Penal Code, or allows
illegal gambling or the illegal operation of gambling devices to be
conducted on its property or in its facilities.
(b) This section takes effect only if Senate Bill No. 1969,
Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, becomes law.
SECTION 6. (a) Subsection (b), Section 466.355,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
(1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
tickets;
(2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
(3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
account; and
(4) the balance, after creation of a reserve
sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed under
Subdivisions (1) through (3), to be transferred on or before the
15th day of each month as follows:
(A) the portion of the balance attributable to
the lottery game operated under Section 466.027 to the fund for
veterans' assistance established by Section 434.017, as amended by
Chapter 1418 (H.B. 3107), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007; and
(B) the remainder to the foundation school fund[,
on or before the 15th day of each month].
(b) This section takes effect only if Senate Bill No. 1969,
Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, does not
become law.
SECTION 7. (a) Subsection (b), Section 466.355,
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
(1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
tickets;
(2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
(3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
account; and
(4) the balance, after creation of a reserve
sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed under
Subdivisions (1) through (3), to be transferred on or before the
15th day of each month as follows:
(A) the portion of the balance attributable to
the lottery game operated under Section 466.027 to the fund for
veterans' assistance established by Section 434.017; and
(B) the remainder to the foundation school fund[,
on or before the 15th day of each month].
(b) This section takes effect only if Senate Bill No. 1969,
Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, becomes law.
SECTION 8. Subsection (b), Section 466.408, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) If a claim is not made for prize money on or before the
180th day after the date on which the winner was selected, the prize
money shall be used in the following order of priority:
(1) subject to legislative appropriation, not more
than $20 million in prize money each year may be deposited to or
appropriated from the Texas Department of Health state-owned
multicategorical teaching hospital account, which is an account in
the general revenue fund;
(2) not more than $5 million in prize money each year
may be appropriated to the Health and Human Services Commission and
shall be used to support the provision of inpatient hospital
services in hospitals located in the 15 counties that comprise the
Texas-Mexico border area, with payment for those services to be not
less than the amount established under the Tax Equity and Fiscal
Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) cost reimbursement methodology
for the hospital providing the services; [and]
(3) the remaining amount, not to exceed $5 million in
prize money in each state fiscal year less any amount deposited in
the fund in that year attributable to the lottery game operated
under Section 466.027, shall be deposited to the fund for veterans'
assistance; and
(4) all prize money subject to this section and not
appropriated from the Texas Department of Health state-owned
multicategorical teaching hospital account, [or] not appropriated
to the Health and Human Services Commission for the purpose
specified in Subdivision (2), and not deposited under Subdivision
(3), shall be deposited in the general revenue fund and may be
appropriated for any purpose as determined by the legislature,
including the provision of indigent health care services as
specified in Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 9. Subsection (b), Section 2167.001, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) radio antenna space;
(2) residential space for a Texas Department of Mental
Health and Mental Retardation program;
(3) residential space for a Texas Youth Commission
program;
(4) space to be used for less than one month for
meetings, conferences, conventions, seminars, displays,
examinations, auctions, or similar purposes;
(5) district office space for members of the
legislature;
(6) space used by the Texas Workforce Commission;
(7) residential property acquired by the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs or the Texas State
Affordable Housing Corporation that is offered for sale or rental
to individuals and families of low or very low income or families of
moderate income; [or]
(8) except as provided by Section 2167.007, classroom
and instructional space for an institution of higher education; or
(9) space leased by the Texas Veterans Commission to
administer the veterans employment services program.
SECTION 10. (a) Section 466.355, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a transfer from the state
lottery account made on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Texas Lottery Commission shall establish and begin
selling tickets to the lottery game as required by Section 466.027,
Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than March 2, 2010.
SECTION 11. Subsection (b), Section 2167.001, Government
Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a lease agreement
entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. A lease
agreement entered into before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect at the time the lease agreement was
entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 12. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1655 passed the Senate on
April 16, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on June 1, 2009, by the
following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 5.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1655 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 20, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 140,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor