89R14050 JAM-D
By: Hancock S.B. No. 2545
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a down payment assistance grant
program for veterans purchasing manufactured homes and the
dedication of certain sales and use tax revenue to finance that
program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 162, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 162.0105 to read as follows:
Sec. 162.0105. DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. (a)
In this section, "manufactured home" has the meaning assigned by
Section 1201.003, Occupations Code.
(b) Using money from the manufactured home grant fund
established under Subsection (f), the board shall award to eligible
veterans grants to be used as down payment assistance for the
purchase of new manufactured homes.
(c) The board may award a grant under this section only in
accordance with a contract between the commission and a grant
recipient. The contract must include provisions under which the
board is granted sufficient control to ensure the public purpose of
providing affordable housing to veterans is accomplished and the
state receives the return benefit.
(d) To be eligible for a grant under this section, a person
must be a veteran at the time the person applies for the grant. If
an eligible veteran dies after filing an application, the surviving
spouse may complete the transaction.
(e) A manufactured home for which a grant is awarded under
this section may not be leased, transferred, sold, or conveyed in
whole or in part until the original veteran purchaser has occupied
the home as the veteran's principal residence for a period of three
years following the date of the purchase of the home and complied
with the terms and conditions of this section and the rules of the
board. After the three-year period, a home may be transferred,
sold, or conveyed if the terms and conditions of this section and
rules of the board have been met and the approval of the board has
been obtained. The board may waive the time limitation of this
subsection at any time the board considers a waiver to be in the
best interest of the grant program, including on the death,
bankruptcy, financial incapacity, or divorce of the veteran and
including when the veteran is forced to move due to a change in
employment or because the veteran's home is condemned through no
fault of the veteran. If the time limitation requirement of this
subsection is not met and the board does not waive the time
limitation as provided in this subsection, the board may provide in
its rules for the repayment of the grant or any other remedy as the
board considers appropriate.
(f) The manufactured home grant fund is established as a
special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue
fund. The board shall administer the fund. The board may use money
in the fund only for the purposes of awarding grants under this
section and for paying the reasonable expenses of managing the fund
and its assets. The fund consists of:
(1) money transferred by the comptroller to the fund
under Section 158.059, Tax Code;
(2) money the legislature appropriates, credits, or
transfers to the fund;
(3) gifts and grants, including grants from the
federal government, and other donations received for the fund; and
(4) investment earnings and interest earned on amounts
credited to the fund.
(g) The board by rule shall establish:
(1) the value of a grant awarded under this section;
(2) income limits for a veteran's eligibility for a
grant awarded under this section; and
(3) any other provision necessary to implement this
section.
SECTION 2. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Tax
Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. IMPOSITION AND COLLECTION OF TAX; DISPOSITION OF TAX
PROCEEDS
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 158.059 to read as follows:
Sec. 158.059. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE. The comptroller shall
deposit the revenue attributable to the taxes imposed by this
chapter as follows:
(1) 10 percent to the credit of the manufactured home
grant fund established under Section 162.0105, Natural Resources
Code; and
(2) the remainder to the credit of the general revenue
fund.
SECTION 4. Section 158.059, Tax Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to the allocation of tax proceeds received by the
comptroller of public accounts with a report that covers a period
beginning on or after September 1, 2025.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.