By: Guillen H.B. No. 126
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to impeding illegal entry into Texas by providing more
funding for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border
barrier infrastructure.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. BORDER BARRIER INFRASTRUCTURE
SECTION 1.01. Subchapter G, Government Code, is added to
read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. BORDER BARRIER FUND
Sec. 421.111. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Border region" has the meaning assigned by
Section 772.0071.
(2) "Local government" means a municipality or county.
(3) "Office" means the trusteed programs within the
office of the governor.
Sec. 421.112. USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS. (a) From money
appropriated for that purpose, the office, as authorized by Chapter
418, including Subchapter D of that chapter, shall make funds
available to state agencies and local governments for the following
purposes:
(1) the construction and maintenance of temporary
border security infrastructure, including temporary barriers,
buoys, fences, wires, roads, trenches, surveillance technology, or
other improvements, designed or adapted to surveil or impede the
movement of persons or objects across the Texas-Mexico border at
locations other than ports of entry;
(2) the construction of improvements, including
surveillance and detection technology, to an area in the immediate
vicinity of a port of entry to enhance vehicle inspection
capabilities and assist in the investigation, interdiction, and
prosecution of persons smuggling individuals or contraband,
including controlled substances, such as fentanyl, cocaine,
heroin, and methamphetamine, across the Texas-Mexico border; and
(3) the acquisition and construction of facilities,
equipment and services to remove illegal immigrants from Texas.
Sec. 421.113. FEDERAL FUNDS; GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS.
In addition to funds appropriated by the legislature and for
purposes of this subchapter, the office may:
(1) seek and apply for any available federal funds;
and
(2) solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations
from any other source, public or private.
Sec. 421.114. RULES. The office may adopt rules for the
administration of this subchapter.
Sec. 421.115. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a) The recipient
of funds for a purpose described by Section 421.112 shall submit to
the office reports on an interval prescribed by the office
regarding the use of the funds and any other issue related to the
funds as determined by the office.
(b) Funds received by a state agency for a purpose described
by Section 421.112 are considered border security funding for
purposes of reporting requirements in the General Appropriations
Act.
Sec. 421.116. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. Unless otherwise
provided by the appropriation, the division may use a reasonable
amount, not to exceed five percent, of any general revenue
appropriated for purposes of this subchapter to pay the costs of
administering this subchapter.
Sec. 421.120. PURCHASE, DEPLOYMENT AND MAINTENANCE
GUIDELINES FOR CERTAIN TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT. (a) The office
shall develop guidelines for the purchase, deployment and
maintenance of technology and equipment to enhance the state's
ability to detect and suppress criminal activity along the
Texas-Mexico border, including:
(1) temporary border security infrastructure,
including temporary barriers, buoys, fences, wires, roads,
trenches, surveillance technology, or other improvements, designed
or adapted to surveil or impede the movement of persons or objects
across the Texas-Mexico border at locations other than ports of
entry; and
(2) surveillance and detection technology to be
deployed at and near each port of entry along the Texas-Mexico
border to detect and deter the improper entry of individuals from
foreign nations and the smuggling of individuals and controlled
substances, such as fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and
methamphetamine.
(3) the acquisition and construction of facilities,
equipment and services to remove illegal immigrants from Texas.
(b) The guidelines to acquire goods and services under
Subsection (a) shall consider any procurement method that provides
the best value to the state. In developing the guidelines, the
office shall consider the best value standards listed in Section
2155.074.
Sec. 421.121. OPERATIONAL PLAN TO COORDINATE BORDER
PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT.
(a) The office shall convene an advisory council on border
protection technology and equipment.
(b) The governor shall determine the makeup of the advisory
council on border protection technology and equipment, considering
domestic and international subject matter experts.
(c) The advisory council on border protection technology
and equipment shall develop and recommend to the governor and the
legislature, a strategic plan that establishes the framework for
the budgeting, procurement, implementation, and operations of
border protection technology and equipment for state agencies and
local governments.
(d) The strategic plan under Subsection (c) must include:
(1) goals and performance measures that involve
collaboration and interoperability of state agencies and local
governments;
(2) an evaluation of 8 U.S.C. Section 1325(a) and
other federal laws relating to the requirement that the admission
of aliens into the United States occur only at ports of entry; and
(3) an evaluation of the relationship between the
financial efficiency and operation effectiveness of various types
of border protection technology and equipment.
(c) The advisory council on border protection technology
and equipment shall twice a year report to the governor and the
legislature, on the recommendations of the strategic plan.
(d) The office of the governor shall hold an annual
technology fair at which vendors of emerging border protection
technology and equipment demonstrate the capabilities of the
products.
(e) The inaugural event required by Subsection (d) of this
section must be held no later than September 1, 2024.
Sec. 421.122. TECHNOLOGY POLICY; REVIEW. (a) The office
shall implement a policy requiring state agencies to use
appropriate technological solutions to improve the state's
homeland security efforts. The policy must ensure that the state's
capability to conduct border security operations and similar
functions is not impeded by the use of obsolete or outdated
technologies.
(b) The office shall, based upon the recommendations of the
advisory council on border protection technology and equipment,
periodically review emerging technologies that may be deployed for
border security operations, including technologies and equipment
described by Section 421.120(a), to ensure the state agencies
consistently adopt innovative technologies and solutions for those
operations.
SECTION 1.02. As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this article, the office of the governor shall adopt rules
as necessary to implement Subchapter G, Chapter 421, Government
Code, as added by this article.
ARTICLE 2. SEVERABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 2.01. It is the intent of the legislature that every
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
every person, group of persons, or circumstances, is severable from
each other. If any application of any provision in this Act to any
person, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be
invalid for any reason, the remaining applications of that
provision to all other persons and circumstances shall be severed
and may not be affected.
SECTION 2.02. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of
the legislative session.