| 1 | 1 | | 84R22448 BEF-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Guerra, Muñoz, Jr. H.B. No. 979 |
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| 3 | 3 | | Substitute the following for H.B. No. 979: |
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| 4 | 4 | | By: González C.S.H.B. No. 979 |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to a grant program to reduce wait times for agricultural |
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| 10 | 10 | | inspections of vehicles at ports of entry along the Texas-Mexico |
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| 11 | 11 | | border. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by |
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| 14 | 14 | | adding Section 12.050 to read as follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | Sec. 12.050. TRADE AGRICULTURAL INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (a) Using money appropriated for this purpose or money received |
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| 17 | 17 | | under Subsection (g), the department may make a grant to a nonprofit |
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| 18 | 18 | | organization for the purpose of promoting the agricultural |
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| 19 | 19 | | processing industry in this state by reducing wait times for |
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| 20 | 20 | | agricultural inspections of vehicles at ports of entry along the |
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| 21 | 21 | | border with the United Mexican States. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) The department shall request proposals for the award of |
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| 23 | 23 | | a grant under this section. The department shall evaluate the |
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| 24 | 24 | | proposals and award a grant based on the proposed program's |
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| 25 | 25 | | quantifiable effectiveness and the potentially positive impact on |
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| 26 | 26 | | the agricultural processing industry in this state. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (c) A grant awarded under this section must be made to an |
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| 28 | 28 | | organization that has demonstrated experience working with border |
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| 29 | 29 | | inspection authorities to reduce border crossing wait times. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (d) A grant recipient may use grant money received under |
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| 31 | 31 | | this section only to pay for activities directly related to the |
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| 32 | 32 | | purpose of the grant program as described by Subsection (a). A grant |
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| 33 | 33 | | recipient may use grant money to reimburse a federal governmental |
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| 34 | 34 | | agency that, at the request of the grant recipient, provides |
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| 35 | 35 | | additional border agricultural inspectors or pays overtime to |
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| 36 | 36 | | border agricultural inspectors at ports of entry along the border |
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| 37 | 37 | | with the United Mexican States. |
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| 38 | 38 | | (e) The department shall establish procedures to administer |
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| 39 | 39 | | the grant program, including a procedure for the submission of a |
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| 40 | 40 | | proposal and a procedure to be used by the department to evaluate a |
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| 41 | 41 | | proposal. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (f) The department shall enter into a contract that includes |
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| 43 | 43 | | performance requirements with each grant recipient. The department |
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| 44 | 44 | | shall monitor and enforce the terms of the contract. The contract |
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| 45 | 45 | | must authorize the department to recoup grant money from a grant |
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| 46 | 46 | | recipient for failure of the grant recipient to comply with the |
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| 47 | 47 | | terms of the contract. |
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| 48 | 48 | | (g) The department may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and |
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| 49 | 49 | | donations from any source for the purpose of awarding grants under |
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| 50 | 50 | | this section. |
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| 51 | 51 | | (h) To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a |
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| 52 | 52 | | nonprofit organization must provide matching funds. The amount of |
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| 53 | 53 | | the grant may not exceed the amount of matching funds. The |
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| 54 | 54 | | department may not require a nonprofit organization to provide |
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| 55 | 55 | | matching funds in an amount that exceeds the amount of the grant. |
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| 56 | 56 | | (i) The department may adopt any rules necessary to |
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| 57 | 57 | | implement this section. |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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