| 1 | 1 | | 86R11003 BEF-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Lucio S.B. No. 1812 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to a grant program to reduce wait times for agricultural |
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| 8 | 8 | | inspections of vehicles at ports of entry along the Texas-Mexico |
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| 9 | 9 | | border. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by |
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| 12 | 12 | | adding Section 12.050 to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 12.050. TRADE AGRICULTURAL INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM. |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) Using money appropriated for this purpose or money received |
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| 15 | 15 | | under Subsection (g), the department may make a grant to a nonprofit |
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| 16 | 16 | | organization for the purpose of promoting the agricultural |
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| 17 | 17 | | processing industry in this state by reducing wait times for |
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| 18 | 18 | | agricultural inspections of vehicles at ports of entry along the |
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| 19 | 19 | | border with the United Mexican States. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (b) The department shall request proposals for the award of |
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| 21 | 21 | | a grant under this section. The department shall evaluate the |
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| 22 | 22 | | proposals and award a grant based on the proposed program's |
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| 23 | 23 | | quantifiable effectiveness and the potentially positive impact on |
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| 24 | 24 | | the agricultural processing industry in this state. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (c) A grant awarded under this section must be made to an |
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| 26 | 26 | | organization that has demonstrated experience working with border |
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| 27 | 27 | | inspection authorities to reduce border crossing wait times. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (d) A grant recipient may use grant money received under |
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| 29 | 29 | | this section only to pay for activities directly related to the |
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| 30 | 30 | | purpose of the grant program as described by Subsection (a). A |
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| 31 | 31 | | grant recipient may use grant money to reimburse a federal |
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| 32 | 32 | | governmental agency that, at the request of the grant recipient, |
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| 33 | 33 | | provides additional border agricultural inspectors or pays |
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| 34 | 34 | | overtime to border agricultural inspectors at ports of entry along |
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| 35 | 35 | | the border with the United Mexican States. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (e) The department shall establish procedures to administer |
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| 37 | 37 | | the grant program, including a procedure for the submission of a |
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| 38 | 38 | | proposal and a procedure to be used by the department to evaluate a |
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| 39 | 39 | | proposal. |
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| 40 | 40 | | (f) The department shall enter into a contract that includes |
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| 41 | 41 | | performance requirements with each grant recipient. The department |
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| 42 | 42 | | shall monitor and enforce the terms of the contract. The contract |
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| 43 | 43 | | must authorize the department to recoup grant money from a grant |
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| 44 | 44 | | recipient for failure of the grant recipient to comply with the |
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| 45 | 45 | | terms of the contract. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (g) The department may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and |
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| 47 | 47 | | donations from any source for the purpose of awarding grants under |
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| 48 | 48 | | this section. |
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| 49 | 49 | | (h) To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a |
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| 50 | 50 | | nonprofit organization must provide matching funds. The department |
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| 51 | 51 | | may not award a grant to a nonprofit organization until the |
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| 52 | 52 | | department certifies that the nonprofit organization has the |
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| 53 | 53 | | matching funds. The amount of the grant may not exceed the amount |
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| 54 | 54 | | of matching funds. The department may not require a nonprofit |
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| 55 | 55 | | organization to provide matching funds in an amount that exceeds |
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| 56 | 56 | | the amount of the grant. |
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| 57 | 57 | | (i) The total amount of grants awarded under this section |
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| 58 | 58 | | may not exceed $725,000 for the duration of the program. |
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| 59 | 59 | | (j) The department may adopt any rules necessary to |
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| 60 | 60 | | implement this section. |
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| 61 | 61 | | (k) Not later than January 15, 2021, the department shall |
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| 62 | 62 | | evaluate the performance of the program under this section and |
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| 63 | 63 | | submit a report to the legislature. The report must include an |
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| 64 | 64 | | evaluation of agricultural inspections affected by the program, |
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| 65 | 65 | | including the extent to which the program is reducing wait times for |
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| 66 | 66 | | agricultural inspections of vehicles at ports of entry along the |
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| 67 | 67 | | border with the United Mexican States. |
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| 68 | 68 | | (l) Unless continued in existence by the legislature, this |
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| 69 | 69 | | section expires September 1, 2021. |
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| 70 | 70 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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