Gutierrez Bill Sends Every Texas Household A $1,500 Check

The text as introduced · 1,158 words

By: Gutierrez
S.B. No. 297

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to one-time emergency household economic relief payments

in response to a statewide household affordability emergency;

making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Title 4, Government Code, is amended by adding

Chapter 405A to read as follows:

CHAPTER 405A. EMERGENCY HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC RELIEF

Sec. 405A.001. PUBLIC CALAMITY; EMERGENCY FINDINGS. (a)

The legislature finds that extraordinary and sustained increases in

the cost of housing, electricity, food, transportation, insurance,

and other necessities have created a statewide household

affordability emergency that threatens the ability of Texas

households to obtain necessities and maintain stable housing.

(b) The legislature declares that the statewide household

affordability emergency described by Subsection (a) constitutes a

public calamity for purposes of Section 51, Article III, Texas

Constitution, and that the temporary aid provided under this

chapter is intended to alleviate the immediate consequences of that

calamity and protect the health, safety, and economic stability of

residents of this state.

(c) The legislature finds that a uniform, one-time

emergency household relief payment is necessary to provide prompt

assistance without delaying relief through individualized

determinations of financial hardship. The payment does not create

an entitlement to recurring benefits.

Sec. 405A.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Comptroller" means the comptroller of public

accounts.

(2) "Household" means one or more natural persons

occupying a dwelling unit as their usual place of residence and

sharing the dwelling unit as a residence, without regard to whether

the occupants are related. The term includes an individual

residing alone.

(3) "Qualified household" means a household with a

usual place of residence in this state on January 1, 2027,

represented by a person who is at least 18 years of age on that date,

or an emancipated minor, and that satisfies the verification

requirements adopted under this chapter.

(4) "Representative" means a natural person

designated by the members of a qualified household to receive a

payment on the household's behalf.

Sec. 405A.003. ONE-TIME EMERGENCY RELIEF PAYMENT. (a)

Subject to this chapter, the comptroller shall make a single

emergency household economic relief payment of $1,500 to each

qualified household in this state.

(b) Not more than one payment may be made for a qualified

household. A payment is for the benefit of the household as a whole

and is not increased because the household has additional members.

(c) Eligibility for a payment may not be conditioned on the

household's income, homeownership, property-tax liability,

employment, receipt of public benefits, or whether its members

filed a state or federal income tax return.

(d) A payment under this chapter is not a loan and may not be

required to be repaid except in the case of fraud or duplicate

payment.

Sec. 405A.004. ADMINISTRATION; APPLICATION. (a) The

comptroller shall establish a simplified procedure for determining

household eligibility and issuing payments by electronic funds

transfer, check, or another secure method selected by the

recipient.

(b) The comptroller may use information lawfully available

to the comptroller or another state agency to identify qualified

households, but may not deny a household a payment solely because

the household is not identified in an existing government database.

(c) The comptroller shall provide an accessible application

method by mail and in person, in addition to any electronic method,

and a reasonable procedure to correct errors, contest denial, and

resolve conflicting claims by persons at the same address.

(d) A household may establish its usual residence by a

lease, utility record, school record, government correspondence,

sworn declaration, or other reasonably reliable evidence. The

comptroller shall adopt rules addressing persons experiencing

homelessness, residents of group quarters, and other households

without a conventional street address.

(e) The comptroller shall take reasonable steps to prevent

duplicate and fraudulent payments without imposing an unreasonable

burden on eligible households.

Sec. 405A.005. PAYMENT SCHEDULE. (a) The comptroller

shall begin issuing payments as soon as practicable after the

effective date of this chapter and shall make reasonable efforts to

issue payments to verified households not later than December 31,

2027.

(b) An application for a payment may be submitted until

December 31, 2028. The comptroller shall continue to issue

payments on timely applications until all properly payable claims

have been resolved, subject to the appropriation made for this

purpose.

Sec. 405A.006. INFORMATION; CONFIDENTIALITY. (a)

Information obtained solely to verify household eligibility or

transmit payment is confidential and not subject to public

disclosure under Chapter 552, except for deidentified aggregate

reports.

(b) The comptroller shall publish quarterly the number of

households paid, the aggregate amount disbursed, administrative

expenditures, and the estimated number of eligible households not

yet paid.

Sec. 405A.007. RULES. The comptroller shall adopt rules

necessary to implement this chapter. Rules may not impose an income

limitation or reduce the $1,500 amount prescribed by Section

405A.003.

SECTION 2 . (a) For the state fiscal biennium ending August

31, 2029, $17,000,000,000 is appropriated from the economic

stabilization fund to the comptroller of public accounts for

one-time emergency household economic relief payments and

administration of the program established by Chapter 405A,

Government Code, as added by this Act, in response to the public

calamity declared by Section 405A.001 of that chapter.

(b) The appropriation under this section is made pursuant to

Section 49-g(m), Article III, Texas Constitution, and is contingent

on approval by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each

house of the legislature. The legislature further declares that

the emergency relief payments are intended as aid in a case of

public calamity under Section 51, Article III, Texas Constitution.

(c) Of the money appropriated under Subsection (a) of this

section, the comptroller may use not more than one percent for the

costs of administering the payments.

(d) If the comptroller determines that the appropriation

will be insufficient to make the full payment to each qualified

household, the comptroller shall promptly report the estimated

shortfall to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the

house of representatives, and Legislative Budget Board. This

subsection does not authorize the comptroller to expend money in

excess of the appropriation.

SECTION 3. The legislature finds that the statewide

household affordability emergency requires prompt action. Not

later than the 30th day after the effective date of this Act, the

comptroller of public accounts shall adopt emergency rules and make

available an application method for the payment program created by

this Act.

SECTION 4. If any provision of this Act or its application

to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does

not affect other provisions or applications that can be given

effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the

provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2027.