By: Flores S.B. No. 1512
(Martinez)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to payment of costs related to the relocation of certain
political subdivision utility facilities for state highway
projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 203.092, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsections (a-4) and (e) to read as follows:
(a-4) Notwithstanding another provision of this section, a
utility shall make a relocation of a utility facility required by
improvement of the state highway system at the expense of this state
if the commission determines that:
(1) the utility is a political subdivision or is owned
or operated by a political subdivision;
(2) a financial condition would prevent the utility
from being able to pay the cost of relocation in full or in part at
the time of relocation or, if paid at that time, the payment would
adversely affect the utility's ability to operate or provide
essential services to its customers; and
(3) the utility:
(A) would not be able to receive a state
infrastructure bank loan under Subchapter D, Chapter 222, to
finance the cost of the relocation and is otherwise unable to
finance that cost; or
(B) is a political subdivision or is owned or
operated by a political subdivision that:
(i) has a population of less than 5,000; and
(ii) is located in a county that has been
included in at least five disaster declarations made by the
president of the United States in the six-year period preceding the
proposed date of the relocation.
(e) The total amount paid by the department for the
relocation of utility facilities under Subsection (a-4) may not
exceed $10 million in any fiscal year.
SECTION 2. 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, 2019.