By: Eltife S.B. No. 1879
(In the Senate - Filed April 8, 2013; April 9, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations; April 29, 2013, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers of the TexAmericas Center.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 3503.003, Special
District Local Laws Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The authority is created to:
(1) accept title on approval by, and in coordination
with, the governor to all or a portion of the property on, adjacent
to, or related to the property described by Section 3503.004 from
the United States;
(2) promote the location and development of new
businesses, industries, and commercial activities on or related to
the property;
(3) undertake a project the board considers necessary
or incidental to the industrial, commercial, or business
development, redevelopment, maintenance, and expansion of new or
existing businesses on and for the property described by Section
3503.004, including the acquisition, construction, operation,
maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, replacement, improvement,
extension, expansion, or enhancement of:
(A) roads, bridges, and rights-of-way;
(B) housing;
(C) property;
(D) police, fire, medical, cultural,
educational, and research services, equipment, institutions, and
resources;
(E) other community support services;
(F) flood control, water, wastewater treatment,
natural gas, electricity, solid waste disposal, steam generation,
communications, and all other utility facilities and services;
(G) other infrastructure improvements; and
(H) any other services or facilities acquired by
the authority from the United States; [and]
(4) promote or support an active military base located
in the same county as the authority to prevent closure or
realignment of the base and attract new military missions to the
base; and
(5) exercise the powers granted to a conservation and
reclamation district under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
Constitution.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 3503.101, Special
District Local Laws Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The authority may exercise any power or duty necessary
or appropriate to carry out a project described by Section
3503.003(a)(3) and the purposes of this chapter, including the
power to:
(1) sue and be sued, and plead and be impleaded, in its
own name;
(2) adopt an official seal;
(3) adopt, enforce, and amend rules for the conduct of
its affairs;
(4) acquire, hold, own, pledge, and dispose of its
revenue, income, receipts, and money from any source;
(5) select its depository;
(6) acquire, own, rent, lease, accept, hold, or
dispose of any property, or any interest in property, including
rights or easements, in performing its duties and exercising its
powers under this chapter, by purchase, exchange, gift, assignment,
sale, lease, or other method;
(7) hold, manage, operate, or improve the property;
(8) sell, assign, lease, encumber, mortgage, or
otherwise dispose of property, or any interest in property, and
relinquish a property right, title, claim, lien, interest,
easement, or demand, however acquired;
(9) perform an activity authorized by Subdivision (8)
by public or private sale, with or without public bidding,
notwithstanding any other law;
(10) lease or rent any land and building, structure,
or facility from or to any person to carry out a chapter purpose;
(11) request and accept an appropriation, grant,
allocation, subsidy, guarantee, aid, service, labor, material, or
gift, from the federal government, the state, a public agency or
political subdivision, or any other source;
(12) operate and maintain an office and appoint and
determine the duties, tenure, qualifications, and compensation of
officers, employees, agents, professional advisors and counselors,
including financial consultants, accountants, attorneys,
architects, engineers, appraisers, and financing experts, as
considered necessary or advisable by the board;
(13) borrow money and issue bonds, payable solely from
all or a portion of any authority revenue, by resolution or order of
the board and without the necessity of an election;
(14) set and collect rents, rates, fees, and charges
regarding the property and any services provided by the authority;
(15) exercise the powers Chapters 373 and 380, Local
Government Code, grant to a municipality for the development of
housing and expansion of economic development and commercial
activity;
(16) exercise the powers Chapter 49, Water Code,
grants to a general-law district;
(17) exercise the powers Chapter 54, Water Code,
grants to a municipal utility district;
(18) exercise the powers Chapter 552, Transportation
Code, grants to a road utility district;
(19) exercise the powers Subchapter C, Chapter 271,
Local Government Code, grants to a municipality or county;
(20) exercise the powers Chapter 552 [402], Local
Government Code, grants to a municipality for the provision of
municipal utilities;
(21) contract and be contracted with, in the
authority's own name, another person in the performance of the
authority's powers or duties to carry out a project described by
Section 3503.003(a)(3), or to accomplish the purposes of this
chapter for a period of years, on the terms, and by competitive
bidding or by negotiated contract, all as the board considers
appropriate, desirable, and in the best interests of the authority
and the accomplishment of chapter purposes;
(22) acquire, hold, own, sell, assign, lease,
encumber, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of any real, personal, or
mixed property located outside the perimeter of the property
described by Section 3503.004 if the other property enhances or
facilitates the development, redevelopment, maintenance, or
expansion of new and existing businesses, industry, or commercial
activity on the property;
(23) exercise the powers Chapter 22, Transportation
Code, grants to a municipality or county;
(24) exercise the powers Chapter 379B, Local
Government Code, grants to a defense base development authority;
[and]
(25) exercise the powers of a municipality under
Chapters 211 and 212, Local Government Code, in the territory of the
authority, including an area of the authority that is in the
boundaries of a municipality's limited purpose jurisdiction and
extraterritorial jurisdiction. On annexation of an area of the
authority for full purposes by a municipality, the authority's
power to regulate the area under Chapters 211 and 212 expires. The
authority regains the power in an area if the municipality
disannexes the area; and
(26) fund and carry out a project the board determines
will promote or support an active military base located in the same
county as the authority to prevent closure or realignment of the
base and attract new military missions to the base, including a
project to create jobs, retain jobs, grant or loan money to a
federal entity, make improvements to infrastructure, buildings, or
land, or acquire land.
SECTION 3. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 4. 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.
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