By: Darby H.B. No. 1308
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain economic development programs administered by
the Department of Agriculture.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.027, Agriculture Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (g) to read
as follows:
(b) In administering the program, the department shall:
(1) promote economic growth in rural areas;
(2) identify potential opportunities for business in
rural areas and assist rural communities in maximizing those
opportunities;
(3) work with rural communities to identify economic
development needs and direct those communities to persons who can
address and assist in meeting those needs;
(4) encourage communication between organizations,
industries, and regions to improve economic and community
development services to rural areas;
(5) coordinate meetings with public and private
entities to distribute information beneficial to rural areas;
(6) enter into a memorandum of agreement to work
cooperatively with the Texas [Department of] Economic Development
and Tourism Office, the Texas AgriLife [Agricultural] Extension
Service, and other entities the department deems appropriate to
further program objectives; and
(7) perform any other functions necessary to carry out
the program.
(d) The department by rule may charge a membership fee to a
[each] participant in the program.
(g) In addition to the authority set forth in subsection
(a), the department may request, accept, and use any gift, grant,
loan, donation, aid, appropriation, guaranty, allocation, subsidy,
or contribution of any item of value to further an economic
development program in this state.
SECTION 2. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Section 12.0272 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.0272. TEXAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND. (a) The
Texas economic development fund is a fund in the State Treasury.
The account consists of:
(1) all interest, income, revenue, and other assets
associated with economic development programs established using
money allocated and paid to the department under the August 15,
2011, allocation agreement between the department and the United
States Department of the Treasury, as amended, to implement the
State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C.
Section 5701 et seq.);
(2) all money, deposits, distributions, dividends,
earnings, gain, income, interest, proceeds, profits, program
income, rents, returns of capital, returns on investments,
royalties, revenue, or yields received or realized by the
department as a result of an investment made by or on behalf of the
department pursuant to the August 15, 2011, allocation agreement
between the department and the United States Department of the
Treasury, as amended;
(3) gifts, loans, donations, aid, appropriations,
guaranties, allocations, subsidies, grants, or contributions
received under Section 12.027(g);
(4) interest and income earned on the investment of
money in the fund; and
(5) other money required by law to be deposited in the
fund.
(b) Money in the Texas economic development fund may be
appropriated only to the department for the purpose of
administering, establishing, implementing, or maintaining an
economic development program under this section and is dedicated to
and may be used only for the administration, establishment,
implementation, or maintenance of one or more of the department's
economic development programs.
(c) The Texas Economic Development Fund is exempt from
Section 403.095, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Sections 12.040(d), (g), and (i), Agriculture
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) To be eligible to be a Texas certified retirement
community, a community shall:
(1) through a board or panel that serves as the
community's official program sponsor:
(A) complete a retiree desirability assessment,
as developed by the department, to include facts regarding crime
statistics, tax information, recreational opportunities, housing
availability, and other appropriate factors, including criteria
listed in Subsection (e); and
(B) work to gain the support of churches, clubs,
businesses, media, and other entities, as necessary for the success
of the program in the community;
(2) identify emergency medical services and a hospital
within a 75-mile radius of the community; and
(3) submit to the department:
(A) a [an application] fee in an amount equal to
the greater of:
(i) $5,000; or
(ii) $0.25 multiplied by the population of
the community, as determined by the most recent census;
(B) a marketing plan detailing the mission as
applied to the community, the target market, the competition, an
analysis of the community's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and dangers, and the strategies the community will employ to attain
the goals of the program; and
(C) a long-term plan outlining the steps the
community will undertake to maintain its desirability as a
destination for retirees, including an outline of plans to correct
any facility and service deficiencies identified in the retiree
desirability assessment required by Subdivision (1)(A).
(g) If the department finds that a community successfully
meets the requirements of a Texas certified retirement community,
not later than the 90th day after the application is submitted and
approved, the department shall provide [the following] assistance
to the community as determined by department rule[:
[(1) assistance in the training of local staff and
volunteers;
[(2) ongoing oversight and guidance in marketing, plus
updates on retirement trends;
[(3) inclusion in the state's national advertising and
public relations campaigns and travel show promotions, including a
prominent feature on the department's Internet website, to be
coordinated with the Internet websites of other agencies, as
appropriate;
[(4) eligibility for state financial assistance for
brochures, support material, and advertising; and
[(5) an evaluation and progress assessment on
maintaining and improving the community's desirability as a home
for retirees].
(i) The Texas certified retirement community program
account is an account in the general revenue fund. The account is
composed of fees collected under Subsection (d). Money in the
account may be appropriated to the department only for the purposes
of this section, including the payment of administrative and
personnel costs of the department associated with administering the
program. The account is exempt from the application of Section
403.095, Government Code.
SECTION 4. Section 44.007(a), Agriculture Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The board shall establish an interest rate reduction
program to foster the:
(1) creation and expansion of enterprises based on
agriculture in this state; or
(2) development or expansion of businesses in rural
areas of this state.
SECTION 5. Sections 58.016(b) and (d), Agriculture Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) On or before August 1 of each year, the administrator
shall file with the board the proposed annual budgets for the young
farmer loan guarantee program under Subchapter E, the farm and
ranch finance program under Chapter 59, and the programs
administered by the board under this chapter for the succeeding
fiscal year. If there is no administrator, the commissioner shall
assume the duties of the administrator in connection with
preparation of the budget. The budget must set forth the general
categories of expected expenditures out of revenues and income of
the funds administered by the authority and the amount on account of
each. On or before September 1 of each year, the board shall
consider the proposed annual budget and may approve it or amend it.
[Copies of the annual budget certified by the chairman of the board
shall be promptly filed with the governor and the legislature. The
annual budget is not effective until it is filed.] If for any
reason the authority does not adopt an annual budget before
September 2, no expenditures may be made from the funds until the
board approves the annual budget. The authority may adopt an
amended annual budget for the current fiscal year[, but the amended
annual budget may not supersede a prior budget until it is filed
with the governor and the legislature].
(d) On or before January 1 of each year, the authority shall
prepare a report of its activities for the preceding fiscal year.
The report must set forth a complete operating and financial
statement. [The authority shall file copies of the report with the
governor and the legislature as soon as practicable.]
SECTION 6. Section 58.022, Agriculture Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 58.022. POWERS OF AUTHORITY. The authority has all
powers necessary to accomplish the purposes and programs of the
authority, including the power:
(1) to adopt and enforce bylaws, rules, and procedures
and perform all functions necessary for the board to carry out this
chapter;
(2) to sue and be sued, complain, and defend, in its
own name;
(3) to adopt and use an official seal and alter it when
considered advisable;
(4) to acquire, hold, invest, use, pledge, and dispose
of its revenues, income, receipts, funds, and money from every
source and to select one or more depositories, inside or outside the
state, subject to this chapter, any resolution, bylaws, or in any
indenture pursuant to which the funds are held;
(5) to establish, charge, and collect fees, charges,
and penalties in connection with the programs, services, and
activities provided by the authority in accordance with this
chapter;
(6) to issue its bonds, to provide for and secure the
payment of the bonds, and provide for the rights of the owners of
the bonds, in the manner and to the extent permitted by this
chapter, and to purchase, hold, cancel, or resell or otherwise
dispose of its bonds, subject to any restrictions in any resolution
authorizing the issuance of its bonds;
(7) to procure insurance and pay premiums on insurance
of any type, in amounts, and from insurers as the board considers
necessary and advisable to accomplish any of its purposes;
(8) to make, enter into, and enforce contracts,
agreements, including management agreements, for the management of
any of the authority's property, leases, indentures, mortgages,
deeds of trust, security agreements, pledge agreements, credit
agreements, and other instruments with any person, including any
lender and any federal, state, or local governmental agency, and to
take other actions as may accomplish any of its purposes;
(9) to own, rent, lease, or otherwise acquire, accept,
or hold real, personal, or mixed property, or any interest in
property in performing its duties and exercising its powers under
this chapter, by purchase, exchange, gift, assignment, transfer,
foreclosure, mortgage, sale, lease, or otherwise and to hold,
manage, operate, or improve real, personal, or mixed property,
wherever situated;
(10) to sell, lease, encumber, mortgage, exchange,
donate, convey, or otherwise dispose of any or all of its properties
or any interest in its properties, deed of trust or mortgage lien
interest owned by it or under its control, custody, or in its
possession, and release or relinquish any right, title, claim,
lien, interest, easement, or demand however acquired, including any
equity or right of redemption in property foreclosed by it, and to
do any of the foregoing by public or private sale, with or without
public bidding, notwithstanding any other law; and to lease or rent
any improvements, lands, or facilities from any person to effect
the purposes of this chapter;
(11) to request, accept, and use gifts, loans,
donations, aid, appropriations, guaranties, allocations,
subsidies, grants, or contributions of any item of value for the
furtherance of any of its purposes;
(12) to make secured or unsecured loans for the
purpose of providing temporary or permanent financing or
refinancing for eligible agricultural businesses for the purposes
authorized by this chapter, including the refunding of outstanding
obligations, mortgages, or advances issued for those purposes, and
charge and collect interest on those loans for such loan payments
and on such terms and conditions as the board may consider advisable
and not in conflict with this chapter;
(13) to secure the payment by the state or the
authority on guarantees and to pay claims from money in the
authority's funds pursuant to the loan guarantee and insurance
programs implemented by the authority;
(14) to purchase or acquire, sell, discount, assign,
negotiate, and otherwise dispose of notes, debentures, bonds, or
other evidences of indebtedness of eligible agricultural
businesses, whether unsecured or secured, as the board may
determine, or portions or portfolios of or participations in those
evidences of indebtedness, and sell and guarantee securities,
whether taxable or tax exempt under federal law in primary and
secondary markets in furtherance of any of the authority's
purposes; and
(15) to exercise all powers given to a corporation
under Chapter 22, Business Organizations Code [the Texas Non-Profit
Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)], to the extent not inconsistent with this chapter.
SECTION 7. Section 58.053(a), Agriculture Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) An eligible applicant's documentation shall include the
following for the board's review:
(1) the plan, as submitted to the lender, for the
applicant's proposed farm or ranch operation or
agriculture-related business to be financed that includes a budget
for the proposed operation;
(2) a completed application for a loan from a
commercial lender on which an eligible applicant has indicated how
the loan proceeds will be used to implement the applicant's plan;
and
(3) the signed statement of a loan officer of the
commercial lender that a loan guarantee is requested [required] for
approval of the loan application.
SECTION 8. Section 487.051(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The office shall:
(1) assist rural communities in the key areas of
economic development, community development, rural health, and
rural housing;
(2) serve as a clearinghouse for information and
resources on all state and federal programs affecting rural
communities;
(3) in consultation with rural community leaders,
locally elected officials, state elected and appointed officials,
academic and industry experts, and the interagency work group
created under this chapter, identify and prioritize policy issues
and concerns affecting rural communities in the state;
(4) make recommendations to the legislature to address
the concerns affecting rural communities identified under
Subdivision (3);
(5) monitor developments that have a substantial
effect on rural Texas communities, especially actions of state
government[, and compile an annual report describing and evaluating
the condition of rural communities];
(6) administer the federal community development
block grant nonentitlement program;
(7) administer programs supporting rural health care
as provided by this chapter;
(8) perform research to determine the most beneficial
and cost-effective ways to improve the welfare of rural
communities;
(9) ensure that the office qualifies as the state's
office of rural health for the purpose of receiving grants from the
Office of Rural Health Policy of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services under 42 U.S.C. Section 254r;
(10) manage the state's Medicare rural hospital
flexibility program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1395i-4;
(11) seek state and federal money available for
economic development in rural areas for programs under this
chapter;
(12) in conjunction with other offices and divisions
of the Department of Agriculture, regularly cross-train office
employees with other employees of the Department of Agriculture
regarding the programs administered and services provided to rural
communities; and
(13) work with interested persons to assist volunteer
fire departments and emergency services districts in rural areas.
SECTION 9. Section 487.804(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Not later than January 1 of each even-numbered year, the
commissioner shall submit to the legislature a report of the
findings of the advisory council and the activities of the Texas
Rural Foundation.
SECTION 10. The heading to Section 502.404, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 502.404. VOLUNTARY ASSESSMENT FOR TEXAS AGRICULTURAL
FINANCE AUTHORITY [YOUNG FARMER LOAN GUARANTEES].
SECTION 11. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 12.040(f), Agriculture Code;
(2) Section 487.056, Government Code; and
(3) Section 487.653, Government Code.
SECTION 12. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
date of this Act, the commissioner of agriculture shall appoint a
member of the board of directors of the Texas Agricultural Finance
Authority under Section 58.012(a)(4), Agriculture Code, as amended
by this Act.
SECTION 13. 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, 2013.