HBA-GUM C.S.H.B. 2351 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2351 By: Burnam Urban Affairs 4/6/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not provide a true trust account for the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to draw upon in perpetuity. Federal funding for low-income housing dropped from 71.2 billion dollars in 1978 to 16.3 billion dollars in 1997. Texas governmental agencies, the housing industry, and housing advocates believe that funding for HTF may be too low to meet the housing needs of low-income Texans. C.S.H.B. 2351 requires the comptroller of public accounts to transfer 25 percent of the state's unclaimed property funds into the HTF auxiliary account. The bill provides that the interest from the auxiliary account is to remain in the general revenue fund. C.S.H.B. 2351 authorizes the legislature to appropriate these funds each biennium to HTF. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter I, Chapter 2306, Government Code, by adding Section 2306.208, as follows: Sec. 2306.208. HOUSING TRUST FUND AUXILIARY ACCOUNT. Provides that the housing trust fund auxiliary account (HTF auxiliary account) is an account in the general revenue fund consisting of money transferred to the account under Section 74.602, Property Code (relating to the use of unclaimed money). Authorizes the legislature to appropriate money in the account only for the purposes described by Section 2306.202 (Use of Housing Trust Fund). SECTION 2. Amends Section 74.602, Property Code, to provide that Subsection (b), as added by this bill, is an exception to Subsection (a) of this section. Adds Subsection (b) to require the Comptroller of Public Accounts to transfer each fiscal year, after deducting funds sufficient to pay anticipated expenses and claims of the unclaimed money fund, 25 percent of the balance of the money in the unclaimed money fund to the credit of the housing trust fund auxiliary account and the remainder to the credit of the general revenue fund. SECTION 3. (a) Authorizes the legislature to appropriate money in the housing trust fund auxiliary account only for a state fiscal year that begins on or after September 1, 2001. (b) Exempts Section 2306.208, Government Code, as added by this Act, from the application of Section 403.095 (Use of Dedicated Revenue), Government Code, until August 31, 2003. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1 by deleting proposed Subsection (c) from proposed Section 2306.208, Government Code (Housing Trust Fund Auxiliary Account). Proposed Subsection (c) required the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to use one half of the funds appropriated for a fiscal biennium under proposed Section 2306.208 for programs to assist individuals and families of very low income.