H.B. No. 3294
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of events, including certain NASCAR
events, to receive funding through the Major Events Reimbursement
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5A(a)(4), Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts
of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
(4) "Event" means a Super Bowl, a National Collegiate
Athletic Association Final Four tournament game, the National
Basketball Association All-Star Game, the X Games, the National
Hockey League All-Star Game, the Major League Baseball All-Star
Game, a game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Bowl
Championship Series or its successor or a National Collegiate
Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
postseason playoff or championship game, the National Collegiate
Athletic Association men's or women's lacrosse championships, a
World Cup Soccer game, the World Cup soccer tournament, the Major
League Soccer All-Star Game, the Major League Soccer Cup, the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association National Finals Rodeo, an
Elite Rodeo Association World Championship, the United States Open
Championship, the World Games, a national collegiate championship
of an amateur sport sanctioned by the national governing body of the
sport that is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee, an
Olympic activity, including a Junior or Senior activity, training
program, or feeder program sanctioned by the United States Olympic
Committee's Community Olympic Development Program, the Amateur
Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games, a mixed martial arts
championship, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, a Formula One
automobile race, the Moto Grand Prix of the United States, the
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) All-Star
Race, the season-ending Championship Race for the National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the Academy of
Country Music Awards, the National Cutting Horse Association Triple
Crown, a national political convention of the Republican National
Committee or the Democratic National Committee, a presidential
general election debate, or the largest event held each year at a
sports entertainment venue in this state with a permanent seating
capacity, including grandstand and premium seating, of not less
than 125,000. The term includes any activities related to or
associated with an event.
SECTION 2. Section 5A, Chapter 1507 (S.B. 456), Acts of the
76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999 (Article 5190.14, Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (a-1) and
adding Subsection (a-4) to read as follows:
(a-1) An event not listed in Subsection (a)(4) of this
section is ineligible for funding under this section. A listed
event may receive funding through the Major Events Reimbursement
Program under this section only if:
(1) a site selection organization selects a site
located in this state for the event to be held one time or, for an
event scheduled to be held each year for a period of years under an
event contract, or an event support contract, one time each year for
the period of years, after considering, through a highly
competitive selection process, one or more sites that are not
located in this state;
(2) a site selection organization selects a site in
this state as:
(A) the sole site for the event; or
(B) the sole site for the event in a region
composed of this state and one or more adjoining states;
(3) the event is held not more than one time in any
year; [and]
(4) the amount of the incremental increase in tax
receipts determined by the department under Subsection (b) of this
section equals or exceeds $1 million, provided that for an event
scheduled to be held each year for a period of years under an event
contract or event support contract, the incremental increase in tax
receipts shall be calculated as if the event did not occur in the
prior year; and
(5) not later than the 30th day before the first day of
the event, a site selection organization submits a plan to prevent
the trafficking of persons in connection with the event to the
office of the attorney general and the chief of the Texas Division
of Emergency Management.
(a-4) The office of the attorney general may:
(1) distribute the plan required under Subsection
(a-1)(5) of this section to appropriate law enforcement agencies
and to the office of the governor; and
(2) publish the plan on the office's Internet website.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a request submitted by a local organizing committee, endorsing
municipality, or endorsing county under Section 5A, Chapter 1507
(S.B. 456), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999
(Article 5190.14, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), on or after the
effective date of this Act. A request submitted under Section 5A
before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the
request is submitted, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
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, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3294 was passed by the House on May 8,
2017, by the following vote: Yeas 122, Nays 21, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3294 on May 25, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 119, Nays 22,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3294 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays
11.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor