84R9946 YDB-D
By: Guillen H.B. No. 2968
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Alamo preservation fund and the establishment of an
Alamo preservation fund advisory committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 31, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Sections 31.4545 and 31.4546 to read as
follows:
Sec. 31.4545. ALAMO PRESERVATION FUND. (a) The Alamo
preservation fund is a special fund in the state treasury outside
the general revenue fund as established by Section 49-q, Article
III, Texas Constitution.
(b) The land office shall manage the Alamo preservation fund
and may accept a gift, grant, or donation of money, securities,
services, or property to restore, preserve, maintain, operate, and
develop the Alamo complex.
(c) The land office may spend money from the Alamo
preservation fund only for the restoration, preservation,
maintenance, operation, or development of the Alamo complex and
only in amounts that are less than or equal to the amounts received
by the land office from federal, local, or private sources, which
the land office may spend for the same purposes.
(d) The land office shall retain not less than $25 million
in an account in the Alamo preservation fund to be known as the
Alamo operation and maintenance trust account. The land office may
spend the interest and other earnings from the trust account for the
operation, maintenance, and improvement of the Alamo complex.
Sec. 31.4546. ALAMO PRESERVATION FUND ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) The Alamo preservation fund advisory committee is established
to advise the land office on expenditures of money from the Alamo
preservation fund. The advisory committee consists of 15 members
appointed as follows:
(1) three members appointed by the governor;
(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
governor;
(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives;
(4) three members appointed by the commissioner of the
land office;
(5) two members appointed by the San Antonio City
Council; and
(6) one member appointed by the Bexar County
Commissioners Court.
(b) Members of the advisory committee serve staggered
three-year terms with the terms of five members expiring January 1
of each year.
(c) The commissioner of the land office shall appoint a
member to serve as presiding officer of the advisory committee.
(d) The advisory committee shall make recommendations to
the land office on the best use of money in the Alamo preservation
fund to create a world-class site to educate visitors on the history
and importance of the Alamo in this state's fight for independence,
to honor the people who lost their lives at the Alamo, and to
develop the complex and surrounding grounds, including providing
education and museum facilities, financing studies and planning,
providing architectural services, acquiring land or buildings, and
constructing facilities.
(e) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
advisory committee.
SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2016, as required by
Section 31.4546, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act:
(1) the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the
house of representatives, and the commissioner of the General Land
Office shall each appoint three members to the Alamo preservation
fund advisory committee and each designate one of their appointed
members to a term expiring January 1, 2017, one to a term expiring
January 1, 2018, and one to a term expiring January 1, 2019;
(2) the San Antonio City Council shall appoint two
members to the Alamo preservation fund advisory committee and
designate one member to a term expiring January 1, 2017, and one to
a term expiring January 1, 2018; and
(3) the Bexar County Commissioners Court shall appoint
one member to the Alamo preservation fund advisory committee to a
term expiring January 1, 2019.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect December 1, 2015, but only
if the constitutional amendment to establish the Alamo preservation
fund and make a one-time transfer of money from the economic
stabilization fund to the Alamo preservation fund is approved by
the voters. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this
Act has no effect.