88R2440 SCP-F
By: Longoria H.B. No. 540
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of library construction grants by the Texas
State Library and Archives Commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 441.135(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The program of grants shall include one or more of the
following:
(1) system operation grants, to:
(A) provide basic system support services to
member libraries;
(B) provide coordination and enable cooperation
with the commission and with other libraries in a region; and
(C) meet commission and federal goals;
(2) incentive grants, to encourage public libraries to
join together into larger units of service to meet commission and
federal goals;
(3) establishment grants, to help libraries establish
consortia or cooperatives that will enable libraries to better
serve their communities;
(4) equalization grants, to help public libraries in
communities with relatively limited taxable resources to meet
commission and federal goals and qualify for library system
membership;
(5) public information technology grants, to help
public libraries make state, local, and federal government
information that is accessible through the Internet available to
the public through computers;
(6) competitive grants, to promote innovation by
public libraries and by libraries described by Section 441.1271(a)
and to encourage major resource systems or regional library systems
and libraries to meet commission and federal goals; [and]
(7) grants to aid local libraries, to provide
assistance to public libraries, and to help those libraries meet
commission and federal goals; and
(8) construction grants, to encourage the
establishment of new public libraries or the improvement of
existing public libraries.
SECTION 2. Section 441.138, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) Libraries and library systems may use state grants for:
(1) materials;
(2) [,] personnel;
(3) [,] equipment;
(4) [,] administrative expenses;
(5) new construction, rehabilitation, or renovation
of a library or the infrastructure of a library and associated
expenses; [,] and
(6) financing programs that enrich the services and
materials offered a community by its public library.
(b-1) State grants may not be used for site acquisition,
[construction,] acquisition of buildings, or payment of past debts.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.