HBA-NLM, RAR H.B. 842 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 842 By: Ehrhardt Financial Institutions 4/5/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Each year, Texas receives approximately $50 per capita in tax-exempt activity bond cap authority from the federal government. In 1999, Texas received $987,980,700 in bond cap authority. Currently, Texas allocates seven and one-half percent of the bond cap for affordable multifamily housing, providing approximately $74 million in financing. The multifamily use of the bond cap provides Texas with additional federal tax credits, yet there is some concern that the continuing demand for multifamily bond financing may exceed the amount of bond cap authority supplied. H.B. 842 increases the ceiling of available multifamily housing bonds from seven and one-half percent to 25 percent and makes exclusively available 12 percent, rather than 29.5 percent, of the state ceiling for reservations by all other issuers of bonds requiring an allocation. 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 Article 5190.9a, V.T.C.S., to provide that 25, rather than seven and one-half, percent of the state ceiling is available exclusively for reservations by issuers of qualified residential rental project bond issues; and 12, rather than 29.5, percent of the state ceiling is available exclusively for reservations by all other issuers of bonds requiring an allocation. (State ceiling means the amount of authority in the State of Texas to issue tax-exempt private activity bonds during the calendar year.) SECTION 2. Effective date: January 1, 2000. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.