HBA-MPM H.B. 2084 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2084 By: Counts Business & Industry 4/5/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Texas Statewide Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (TSTCI) is a statewide organization of cooperatives and small independent telephone companies that serve the state's vast rural and agricultural areas that the larger telephone companies did not wire because the population was too sparse and the locations too remote. Many TSTCI member companies are owned by individuals or families residing in their areas of service, while cooperatives are owned by the cooperatives' customers. All member companies are regulated by the Public Utility Commission. Current law regarding unclaimed property provides for local telephone companies to transfer unclaimed money that would normally be routed to the state into a fund to be used for local scholarships. Currently, local telephone exchange companies may transfer only $400,000 into a scholarship fund for rural students. House Bill 2084 increases the cap of the total amount that a local telephone exchange company may route into a scholarship fund for rural students to $1 million. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2084 amends the Property Code to increase from $400,000 to $1 million the total amount of money that all local telephone exchange companies may transfer to the comptroller of public accounts for the purpose of delivering money to a scholarship fund for rural students. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.