By: Ellis S.B. No. 1716
(Miles)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the governance of certain housing authorities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 392.031(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A commissioner may not be an officer or employee of the
municipality. A commissioner may be:
(1) a tenant of a public project over which the housing
authority has jurisdiction; or
(2) a person who is a recipient of housing assistance
administered through the authority's housing choice voucher
program.
SECTION 2. Section 392.0331, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b), (g), and (h) and adding
Subsections (b-2) and (h-1) to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), in appointing
commissioners under Section 392.031, a municipality with a
municipal housing authority composed of five commissioners shall
appoint at least one commissioner to the authority who is a tenant
of a public housing project over which the authority has
jurisdiction. Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), in [In]
appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a municipality
with a municipal housing authority composed of seven or more
commissioners shall appoint at least two commissioners to the
authority who are tenants of a public housing project over which the
authority has jurisdiction.
(b-2) In appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a
municipality that has a population over two million and a municipal
housing authority composed of seven or more commissioners shall
appoint at least two commissioners to the authority who are:
(1) tenants of a public housing project over which the
authority has jurisdiction; or
(2) recipients of housing assistance administered
through the authority's housing choice voucher program.
(g) A commissioner appointed under this section may not
participate:
(1) in any vote or discussion concerning the
termination of:
(A) the commissioner's occupancy rights in
public housing;
(B) the commissioner's rights to housing
assistance administered through a housing choice voucher program;
or
(C) the rights of any person related in the first
degree by consanguinity to the commissioner with respect to the
person's occupancy rights in public housing or right to receive
housing assistance administered through a housing choice voucher
program; or
(2) in a grievance or administrative hearing in which
the commissioner or a person related in the first degree by
consanguinity to the commissioner is a party.
(h) If a commissioner appointed under this section as a
tenant of a public housing project ceases to reside in a housing
unit operated by the public housing authority during the
commissioner's term, a majority of the other commissioners shall
decide whether to request that a new commissioner be appointed. A
majority of the commissioners may decide to allow the commissioner
to serve the remaining portion of the commissioner's term.
(h-1) If a commissioner appointed under this section as a
recipient of housing assistance administered through the
authority's housing choice voucher program ceases to receive that
assistance, a majority of the other commissioners shall decide
whether to request that a new commissioner be appointed. A majority
of the commissioners may decide to allow the commissioner to serve
the remaining portion of the commissioner's term.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.