Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3064 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10346 KLA-D
2	2	By: Guillen H.B. No. 3064
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the dedication and maximization of returns on payments
8	8	received by this state for economic losses sustained from the
9	9	Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 403, Government Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Section 403.108 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 403.108. TEXAS GULF RECOVERY FUND. (a) In this
14	14	section:
15	15	(1) "Deepwater Horizon incident" means the oil spill
16	16	occurring from the MC252 well beginning in April 2010 in the Gulf of
17	17	Mexico.
18	18	(2) "Fund" means the Texas Gulf recovery fund.
19	19	(3) "Trust company" means the Texas Treasury
20	20	Safekeeping Trust Company.
21	21	(b) The Texas Gulf recovery fund is a special fund in the
22	22	state treasury outside the general revenue fund. The fund is
23	23	composed of:
24	24	(1) all money received by this state for general
25	25	economic losses that is paid in accordance with:
26	26	(A) the Gulf States Economic Claims Settlement
27	27	Agreement arising in part out of this state's case styled Texas v.
28	28	BP Exploration & Production Inc., et al., No. 13-cv-4677, filed
29	29	June 18, 2013, in the United States District Court, Eastern
30	30	District of Louisiana, and consolidated in the multidistrict
31	31	litigation known as MDL 2179 in that court; or
32	32	(B) the Master Settlement Agreement entered into
33	33	by Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean
34	34	Deepwater Inc., Transocean Holdings LLC, and Triton Asset Leasing
35	35	GmbH, this state, and other Gulf states arising out of litigation
36	36	from the Deepwater Horizon incident consolidated in the
37	37	multidistrict litigation known as MDL 2179 in the United States
38	38	District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana; and
39	39	(2) interest received from the investment of fund
40	40	assets.
41	41	(c) On receipt, the comptroller shall deposit money
42	42	described by Subsection (b)(1) to the credit of the fund.
43	43	(d) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the
44	44	comptroller shall administer the fund and may establish separate
45	45	accounts in the fund as necessary.
46	46	(e) The trust company shall hold and invest the assets of
47	47	the fund and any accounts established in the fund on behalf of the
48	48	comptroller, taking into account the purposes for which the fund is
49	49	established. In managing the fund assets, through procedures and
50	50	subject to restrictions the trust company considers appropriate,
51	51	the trust company may acquire, exchange, sell, supervise, manage,
52	52	or retain any kind of investment that a prudent investor,
53	53	exercising reasonable care, skill, and caution, would acquire or
54	54	retain in light of the purposes, terms, and other circumstances of
55	55	the fund then prevailing, taking into consideration the investment
56	56	of all the fund assets rather than a single investment. The trust
57	57	company may invest the fund assets with the state treasury pool.
58	58	(f) Expenses of managing the fund assets shall be paid from
59	59	the fund, notwithstanding Subsections (g) and (h).
60	60	(g) Until September 1, 2033, the sole purpose of the fund is
61	61	to maximize the return on investment of the fund assets. Money in
62	62	the fund may not be appropriated for any purpose for a period
63	63	beginning before September 1, 2033. This subsection expires
64	64	September 1, 2033.
65	65	(h) Money in the fund may be appropriated only:
66	66	(1) for a period beginning on or after September 1,
67	67	2033; and
68	68	(2) for ecological, environmental, or economic
69	69	projects benefiting areas of this state bordering the Gulf of
70	70	Mexico that sustained environmental or ecological damage or other
71	71	economic losses as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident.
72	72	(i) The fund is exempt from the application of Section
73	73	403.095.
74	74	SECTION 2. Section 404.071(a), Government Code, is amended
75	75	to read as follows:
76	76	(a) Interest received from investments of money in funds and
77	77	accounts in the charge of the comptroller shall be allocated on a
78	78	monthly basis as follows:
79	79	(1) the pro rata portion of the interest received due
80	80	to each constitutional fund shall be credited to that fund;
81	81	(2) the pro rata portion of the interest received due
82	82	to the game, fish, and water safety fund shall be credited to that
83	83	fund;
84	84	(2-a) the pro rata portion of the interest received from
85	85	the investment of the Texas Gulf recovery fund shall be credited to
86	86	that fund; and
87	87	(3) the remainder of the interest received shall be
88	88	credited to the general revenue fund.
89	89	SECTION 3. On the effective date of this Act, the
90	90	comptroller of public accounts shall transfer from the general
91	91	revenue fund to the Texas Gulf recovery fund established under
92	92	Section 403.108, Government Code, as added by this Act, an amount of
93	93	money equal to the amounts of money described by Section
94	94	403.108(b)(1), Government Code, as added by this Act, that were
95	95	received by this state before the effective date of this Act.
96	96	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
97	97	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
98	98	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
99	99	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
100	100	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.