SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 702
WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is pleased to
recognize the Owner-Builder Loan Program, which is better known
as the Texas Bootstrap Loan Program, on the occasion of its 10th
anniversary; and
WHEREAS, Created during the 76th Legislature by Senate
Bill 1287, authored by Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., and administered
by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the
Texas Bootstrap Loan Program was designed to promote and enhance
home ownership opportunities for low-income Texans; and
WHEREAS, Through this program, certified nonprofit
organizations work with low-income Texans to build affordable,
single-family homes; participating families contribute 60
percent of the "self-help" labor toward building a new home or
rehabilitating an existing home; in exchange for this sweat
equity, which dramatically drives down the cost of construction,
the department provides a zero-interest mortgage loan that
families can afford; and
WHEREAS, Since the program's inception, nonprofit
organizations, in partnership with the department, have
leveraged more than $20 million from other funding sources, such
as private lending institutions and units of local government;
over the last decade, the Texas Bootstrap Loan Program has helped
more than 850 Texas families become home owners; and
WHEREAS, The program was established to assist the poorest
among us to obtain a home and to live out their lives in decency
and with security; today many low-income and middle-income
families across the nation are faced with foreclosure; the Texas
Bootstrap Loan Program is an example to the nation of how state
funding and legislative ingenuity can enable the American Dream
to thrive, even in the poorest communities; and
WHEREAS, Texans pride themselves on the ability to pull
themselves up by their bootstraps; for 10 years, the Texas
Bootstrap Loan Program has embodied this attitude, becoming a
national model for self-help housing and proving that even
families with the lowest incomes can, with support, build their
own homes and achieve the American Dream; and
WHEREAS, For the last decade the legislature and the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs have supported the
Texas Bootstrap Loan Program and the Housing Trust Fund, enabling
hardworking families across the state to help themselves build
their own homes and transform the lives of their families and
communities; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 81st
Legislature, hereby commend the Texas Bootstrap Loan Program on
10 years of cooperative effort that have led to home ownership
and hope for hundreds of deserving Texas families; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 81st
Legislature, hereby commend the Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs for its successful decade-long administration
of the Texas Bootstrap Loan Program; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared in
honor of this special occasion.
Lucio
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President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on April 23, 2009.
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Secretary of the Senate
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Member, Texas Senate