89R14050 JAM-D
 
  By: Hancock S.B. No. 2545
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of a down payment assistance grant
  program for veterans purchasing manufactured homes and the
  dedication of certain sales and use tax revenue to finance that
  program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 162, Natural Resources
  Code, is amended by adding Section 162.0105 to read as follows:
         Sec. 162.0105.  DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. (a)
  In this section, "manufactured home" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 1201.003, Occupations Code.
         (b)  Using money from the manufactured home grant fund
  established under Subsection (f), the board shall award to eligible
  veterans grants to be used as down payment assistance for the
  purchase of new manufactured homes.
         (c)  The board may award a grant under this section only in
  accordance with a contract between the commission and a grant
  recipient. The contract must include provisions under which the
  board is granted sufficient control to ensure the public purpose of
  providing affordable housing to veterans is accomplished and the
  state receives the return benefit.
         (d)  To be eligible for a grant under this section, a person
  must be a veteran at the time the person applies for the grant. If
  an eligible veteran dies after filing an application, the surviving
  spouse may complete the transaction.
         (e)  A manufactured home for which a grant is awarded under
  this section may not be leased, transferred, sold, or conveyed in
  whole or in part until the original veteran purchaser has occupied
  the home as the veteran's principal residence for a period of three
  years following the date of the purchase of the home and complied
  with the terms and conditions of this section and the rules of the
  board. After the three-year period, a home may be transferred,
  sold, or conveyed if the terms and conditions of this section and
  rules of the board have been met and the approval of the board has
  been obtained. The board may waive the time limitation of this
  subsection at any time the board considers a waiver to be in the
  best interest of the grant program, including on the death,
  bankruptcy, financial incapacity, or divorce of the veteran and
  including when the veteran is forced to move due to a change in
  employment or because the veteran's home is condemned through no
  fault of the veteran. If the time limitation requirement of this
  subsection is not met and the board does not waive the time
  limitation as provided in this subsection, the board may provide in
  its rules for the repayment of the grant or any other remedy as the
  board considers appropriate.
         (f)  The manufactured home grant fund is established as a
  special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue
  fund. The board shall administer the fund. The board may use money
  in the fund only for the purposes of awarding grants under this
  section and for paying the reasonable expenses of managing the fund
  and its assets. The fund consists of:
               (1)  money transferred by the comptroller to the fund
  under Section 158.059, Tax Code;
               (2)  money the legislature appropriates, credits, or
  transfers to the fund;
               (3)  gifts and grants, including grants from the
  federal government, and other donations received for the fund; and
               (4)  investment earnings and interest earned on amounts
  credited to the fund.
         (g)  The board by rule shall establish:
               (1)  the value of a grant awarded under this section; 
               (2)  income limits for a veteran's eligibility for a
  grant awarded under this section; and
               (3)  any other provision necessary to implement this
  section.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Tax
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER B. IMPOSITION AND COLLECTION OF TAX; DISPOSITION OF TAX
  PROCEEDS
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Tax Code, is amended
  by adding Section 158.059 to read as follows:
         Sec. 158.059.  ALLOCATION OF REVENUE. The comptroller shall
  deposit the revenue attributable to the taxes imposed by this
  chapter as follows:
               (1)  10 percent to the credit of the manufactured home
  grant fund established under Section 162.0105, Natural Resources
  Code; and
               (2)  the remainder to the credit of the general revenue
  fund.
         SECTION 4.  Section 158.059, Tax Code, as added by this Act,
  applies only to the allocation of tax proceeds received by the
  comptroller of public accounts with a report that covers a period
  beginning on or after September 1, 2025.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.