88R7021 JAM-D
By: Jones of Harris H.B. No. 1187
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inclusion of affordable housing as a qualifying
project for public-private partnerships.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2267.001(10), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(10) "Qualifying project" means:
(A) any ferry, mass transit facility, vehicle
parking facility, port facility, power generation facility, fuel
supply facility, oil or gas pipeline, water supply facility, public
work, waste treatment facility, hospital, school, medical or
nursing care facility, recreational facility, affordable housing,
public building, technology facility, or other similar facility
currently available or to be made available to a governmental
entity for public use, including any structure, parking area,
appurtenance, and other property required to operate the structure
or facility and any technology infrastructure installed in the
structure or facility that is essential to the project's purpose;
or
(B) any improvements necessary or desirable to
real property owned by a governmental entity.
SECTION 2. Section 2267.002(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The legislature finds that:
(1) there is a public need for timely acquisition,
design, construction, improvement, renovation, expansion,
equipping, maintenance, operation, implementation, and
installation of education facilities, affordable housing,
technology and other public infrastructure, and government
facilities in this state that serve a public need and purpose;
(2) the public need may not be wholly satisfied by
existing methods of procurement in which qualifying projects are
acquired, designed, constructed, improved, renovated, expanded,
equipped, maintained, operated, implemented, or installed;
(3) there are inadequate resources to develop new
education facilities, affordable housing, technology and other
public infrastructure, and government facilities for the benefit of
the citizens of this state, and there is demonstrated evidence that
partnerships between public entities and private entities or other
persons can meet these needs by improving the schedule for
delivery, lowering the cost, and providing other benefits to the
public;
(4) financial incentives exist under state and federal
tax provisions that encourage public entities to enter into
partnerships with private entities or other persons to develop
qualifying projects; and
(5) authorizing private entities or other persons to
develop or operate one or more qualifying projects may serve the
public safety, benefit, and welfare by making the projects
available to the public in a more timely or less costly fashion.
SECTION 3. Section 2267.003, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2267.003. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter does not
apply to:
(1) the financing, design, construction, maintenance,
or operation of a highway in the state highway system;
(2) a transportation authority operating under
Chapter 451, 452, 453, or 460, Transportation Code, other than a
metropolitan rapid transit authority operating under Chapter 451,
Transportation Code, in which the principal municipality has a
population of 1.9 million or more;
(3) any telecommunications, cable television, video
service, or broadband infrastructure other than technology
installed as part of a qualifying project that is essential to the
project; or
(4) except as provided by Section 2165.259, a
qualifying project located in the Capitol Complex, as defined by
Section 443.0071.
(b) A qualifying project for affordable housing may be
developed or operated only in a county with a population of more
than 3.3 million.
SECTION 4. Section 2267.001(10), Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a qualifying project for which
an agreement is entered into on or after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.