The Committee on Urban Affairs met on March 14th to take up the following bills in order: HB 1440 (Button), HB 1472 (Walle), HB 149 (Murr), HB 997 (Muñoz, Jr.), HB 349 (Bucy), HB 1248 (Guillen), HB 183 (Gates). The notice for the hearing can be found here. A video of the hearing can be found here.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
HB 1440 (Button) – Relating to the authority to approve change orders for certain municipal contracts.
- Button – Bill streamlines the change of approval process for the City of Garland and clarifies the change of procedures only apply to contracts awarded to competitive bidding procedures
- Change will allow Garland to be more efficient and enter necessary contracts, and more effective in serving its residents
Brian England, City Attorney for Garland – For
- Currently Ch. 252 requires municipalities use certain competitive procedures for contracts over $50K
- Issue that Garland has run into since pandemic, contract prices start to increase, Ch. 252 Sec. 048 is ambiguous whether it applies to all contracts or just contracts that are subject to Ch. 252 bidding requirements, this has led to inefficiencies and absurdities
- What ends up happing is Garland must enter into multiple contracts over and over again
- Believe the engages in this bill meet the legislative intent for equal and fair treatment with respect to opportunities for vendors to do work for the city, and think it stimulates competition
- Tepper – Can we fix the language in c-1, the way it’s written doesn’t make sense to me?
- That is the language that exists currently, the only change we are asking for is to decrease the population requirement to 240K
- Tepper – Chairman can we fix this language, I think it would be a good opportunity to clean up this language
- Lozano – I would get with chairwomen button and possibly introduce a CS
Rep. Button – Closes
- The intent of this bill is not to clean up the issues brought up by Rep. Tepper, but we are happy to clean it up; we can come back with CS to clarify that change
HB 1440 is left pending
HB 1472 (Walle) – Relating to eligibility requirements under the owner-builder loan program.
- Walle – Bill changes qualification for owner builder loan program from 60% to 80% AMI
- Program is also known as boot strap loan program housed under TDHCA
- Changing qualifications would increase the amount of qualify participates to build more home for working families, which is the intent of the bill
Lora Atkinson, Habitat for Humanity in Denton County – For
- Inflation is impacting families in our county, build rate is 165K per home
- Other state programs are at 80% AMI would encourage you to pass this
Amy Parham, Habitat for Humanity Texas – For
- Thank you for your support of this bill, we sell houses based on the rate of salary of our home buyers
- With inflation homebuilding has doubled and significantly impacted our work
- It’s not a giveaway program, the state loans 45K and gets back 45K
Rep. Walle – Closes
- This is a great program all we are trying to do is expand the dollars, if the percent is raised it will allow a family of 4 to qualify with a combined income of $70K
- Romero – Its always eye opening when you see the poverty rate in a given county, I’ve seen the cost of materials has increased incredibly but wages have not increased at the same rate, thank you for this bill
- Hayes – How is AMI calculated?
- It is calculated by county
HB 1472 is left pending
HB 149 (Murr) – Relating to the sale of park land owned by certain municipalities.
- Murr – Bill deals with parks and cities; some municipalities have found park properties located in their city that have been dedicated as parkland
- Bill removes the population bracket for cities that have population of 1M or more to allow any municipality the opportunity to go through this process without having an election
- Goal of this bill is to prevent municipalities from needing an election to use parts of park land for another purpose
- Romero – Does this change grant cities the ability to ignore deed restrictions on the land that was donated to them?
- No, this is not intended to affect any deed restrictions that may have attached to the land whenever it was acquired by the city
Deidre Flores, City of Kerrville – For
- Under current law it requires city to hold an election no matter the park size
- Maintaining these unusable park lands takes staff time and city resources
- Even if grant the authority under HB 139, any sale or conveyance would only apply to park land 2 acres or less, city council would need to hold a public hearing, city council would need to make a finding that the park land is no longer usable or functional, the ordinance would not be effective until the expiration of a 60 day allowance of the electoral to submit a petition which would require and election
- We are in support of this bill
Rep. Murr – Closes
CS HB 997 (Muñoz, Jr.) – Relating to municipal authority to prohibit police or fire department employees from circulating or signing certain employment petitions.
- Muñoz – The CS is the legislative council draft
- Bill allows a firefighter or police officer who is employed by a municipality to circulate petitions and collect signature for said initiatives if the firefighter or police officer does not live in the municipality
- Under current law there are charters that prohibit firefighters and police officers who are employed by the city but are not city residence, from participating and working to collect signatures for issues of collective bargaining
- Bill tires to ensure that first responders have a voice on how the municipality is governed and the community they serve
Dallas Reed, Texas Municipal Police Association – For
- Bill allows peace officer and firefighters to circulate a petition
- Upon behalf of 30K members of law enforcement we support this bill
Jay McClellan, Texas Municipal Police Association – For
- There are a number of municipalities that prevent peace officers from circulating petitions for certain referendums
- Police officer and firefighters have a vested interest in communities they preserve, many safety officers do not live in the areas they serve
- Tepper – On duty are they able to circulate this petition
- No this would all be done off duty
Rep. Muñoz – Closes
HB 997 is left pending
HB 349 (Bucy) – Relating to the exemption of certain property from municipal drainage service charges.
- Bill permits municipalities to extend exemptions on drainage fees for property used as principal residence by individuals who are either disabled, 65 years or older, veterans of US armed services on active deployment
- This exemption would benefit residents that have fixed income or extenuating circumstances
Jimmy Flannigan, Self – For
- Drainage fees charged by cities in a time before were charged at the city’s discretion, court rulings later changed that to force cities to charge that by a percent of impervious cover
- Bill would allow all cities to adjust those fees to help reduce the cost
Mitch Fuller, Department of Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars – For
- Simple bill we are in support of it
- The best part of this bill is that it is permissive
Joann Reames, Self – For
- Live in 120-unit complex that was annexed by Austin, shortly after started receiving $2,175.82 bill for impervious cover; had to raise homeowners dues in order to accommodate and play for bill
- Most of the pollution is elderly and veterans, asking that the state helps protect vulnerable populations
Rep. Bucy – Closes
HB 349 is left pending
HB 1248 (Guillen) – Relating to the eligibility of social workers for the Homes for Texas Heroes home loan program.
- Guillen – Bill adds social workers to the list of eligible professionals to qualify for the Homes for Texas Heroes program
- Romero – On board with the dedication that social workers give, was there any thought of adding some of the other folks doing similar work like LPC, Psychologist, or any of the other mental health professionals?
- I believe somebody has come to us recently, certainly open to whatever you may have in mind
- Romero – Many people done realize the amount of work and education social workers and LPCs get to earn a low wage, commend you for this bill
Bryan Mares, National Association of Social Workers Texas Chapter – For
- There is a strong need for social workers in our community and the work is in other areas
- With the increased cost of housing, it makes it more difficult for social workers to afford homes
- Thank committee members and Chairman for all the work done to address the mental health work shortage
- By adding licenses social workers to this program helps insure that they will stay in their community rather than be displaced because of the increased cost of housing
Rep. Guillen – Closes
HB 1248 is left pending
HB 183 (Gates) – Relating to the dissolution by petition of a municipal management district; making conforming changes related to ship channel security districts.
- Gates – Bill will improve accountability transparency of municipal management districts
- Bill deals with when a board of a management must dissolve the district upon written petition by the owners
- Bill removes the at least 2/3 vote and replaces it with a majority vote
- Bill is not a reflection on the current management of any district, if the district is serving their constituents properly, districts have nothing to worry about
Rod Bordelon, Texas Public Policy Foundation – For
- Looked at not just MMDs but also looked at special purpose districts
- MMDs does have a provision for dissolution but the threshold is fairly high at 2/3 vote
- If the assessed owners in that district no longer believe that the district is no longer meeting their needs, the dissolution threshold should be the same as it was to create it
- Statute has several protections in it for how to handle dissolution, bill is sampling addressing dissolution
Rep. Gates – Closes
HB 183 is left pending