Bill Text: TX HB2792 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled

---

Bill Title: Relating to housing authorities established by municipalities and counties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Vetoed) 2017-06-15 - Vetoed by the Governor [HB2792 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB2792-Enrolled.html

---

H.B. No. 2792

AN ACT
relating to housing authorities established by municipalities and
counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 392.005(c) and (d), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) An exemption under this section for a multifamily
residential development which is owned by [(i)] a public facility
corporation created by a housing authority under Chapter 303, owned
by [(ii)] a housing development corporation, or owned by [(iii)] a
similar entity created by a housing authority and which does not
have at least 20 percent of its units reserved for public housing
units, rent-restricted units subsidized by a housing authority, or
a combination of public housing and rent-restricted units, applies
only if:
(1) the authority holds a public hearing, at a regular
meeting of the authority's governing body, to approve the
development; and
(2) at least 50 percent of the units in the multifamily
residential development are reserved for occupancy by individuals
and families earning less than 80 percent of the area median family
income.
(d) For the purposes of Subsection (c), a "public housing
unit":
(1) is a dwelling unit for which the owner:
(A) receives a public housing operating subsidy;
or
(B) received a public housing operating subsidy,
if the dwelling unit was subsequently converted through the Rental
Assistance Demonstration program administered by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development as specified by the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012
(Pub. L. No. 112-55) and its subsequent amendments; and
(2) [. It] does not include a unit for which payments
are made to the landlord under the federal Section 8 Housing Choice
Voucher Program unless the unit was converted under the Rental
Assistance Demonstration program.
SECTION 2. Section 392.031(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A commissioner may not be an officer or employee of the
municipality. A commissioner may be:
(1) a tenant of a public project over which the housing
authority has jurisdiction; or
(2) a [person who is a] recipient of housing
assistance administered through the authority's housing choice
voucher program or project-based rental assistance program.
SECTION 3. Section 392.0331, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b), (b-2), (g), and (h-1) and
adding Subsection (b-3) to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b-1)
and (b-2), in appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a
municipality with a municipal housing authority composed of five
commissioners shall appoint at least one commissioner to the
authority who is a tenant of a public housing project over which the
authority has jurisdiction or who is a recipient of housing
assistance administered through the authority's housing choice
voucher program or project-based rental assistance program. Except
as provided by Subsection (b-3) [(b-2)], in appointing
commissioners under Section 392.031, a municipality with a
municipal housing authority composed of seven or more commissioners
shall appoint at least two commissioners to the authority who are
tenants of a public housing project over which the authority has
jurisdiction or who are recipients of housing assistance
administered through the authority's housing choice voucher
program or project-based rental assistance program.
(b-2) This subsection applies only to a municipality that
has a population over 600,000 and is located adjacent to the
international border of this state. In appointing commissioners
under Section 392.031, a municipality described by this subsection
that has a municipal housing authority composed of five
commissioners shall appoint at least one commissioner to the
authority who is:
(1) a tenant of a public housing project over which the
authority has jurisdiction; or
(2) a recipient of housing assistance administered
through the authority's housing choice voucher program or
project-based rental assistance program.
(b-3) In appointing commissioners under Section 392.031, a
municipality that has a population over two million and a municipal
housing authority composed of seven or more commissioners shall
appoint at least two commissioners to the authority who are:
(1) tenants of a public housing project over which the
authority has jurisdiction; or
(2) recipients of housing assistance administered
through the authority's housing choice voucher program.
(g) A commissioner appointed under this section may not
participate:
(1) in any vote or discussion concerning the
termination of:
(A) the commissioner's occupancy rights in
public housing;
(B) the commissioner's rights to housing
assistance administered through a housing choice voucher program or
a project-based rental assistance program; or
(C) the rights of any person related in the first
degree by consanguinity to the commissioner with respect to the
person's occupancy rights in public housing or right to receive
housing assistance administered through a housing choice voucher
program or a project-based rental assistance program; or
(2) in a grievance or administrative hearing in which
the commissioner or a person related in the first degree by
consanguinity to the commissioner is a party.
(h-1) If a commissioner appointed under this section as a
recipient of housing assistance administered through the
authority's housing choice voucher program or project-based rental
assistance program ceases to receive that assistance, a majority of
the other commissioners shall decide whether to request that a new
commissioner be appointed. A majority of the commissioners may
decide to allow the commissioner to serve the remaining portion of
the commissioner's term.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2792 was passed by the House on April
27, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 6, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2792 on May 25, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 11,
3 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2792 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays
11.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor