By: Perez, González of Dallas H.B. No. 1506
(Senate Sponsor - Johnson)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2019;
April 15, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Water &
Rural Affairs; April 30, 2019, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 30, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing a regulatory authority to establish reduced
water and sewer utility rates funded by donations for the benefit of
certain low-income customers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.182, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-2) to read as
follows:
(b-1) In establishing a utility's rates, the regulatory
authority may authorize the utility to establish reduced water and
sewer rates for a minimal level of service to be provided solely to
a class of [elderly] customers who are 65 years of age or older, who
receive medical assistance under the medical assistance program
established under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, or who receive
benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program
established under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code, to ensure that
those customers receive that level of service at more affordable
rates. The regulatory authority may establish requirements for
determining the eligibility of customers to receive reduced rates
under this subsection.
(b-2) The regulatory authority shall allow a utility to
establish a fund to receive donations to recover the costs of
providing the reduced rates under Subsection (b-1). A utility may
not recover those costs through charges to the utility's other
customer classes.
SECTION 2. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Section 13.182, Water Code, apply only to proceedings before a
regulatory authority regarding rates concerning an application
filed on or after January 1, 2020. Proceedings before a regulatory
authority regarding rates concerning an application filed before
January 1, 2020, are governed by the law in effect when the
application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) The Public Utility Commission of Texas and other
regulatory authorities shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
the changes in law made by this Act not later than December 31,
2019.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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