AUSTIN, Texas–Texas’ governor has signed several bills that had the backing of credit unions, while vetoing another.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 1626 into law authorizing the creation of credit union and bank development districts on Friday. HB 1626 goes into effect on Sept. 1, 2015. The Credit Union Commission is required to promulgate rules to implement the bill by Jan. 1, 2016, according to the Cornerstone Credit Union League.
The bill allows credit unions to work with local governments to create credit union development districts. A state or federal credit union interested in establishing branches in low income areas or in neighborhoods a local government is interested in developing may work with the local government to establish a credit union development district. The local government can offer incentives to a credit union to locate a branch in a credit union development district including deposit of public funds, tax abatements, or other incentives permissible by law to encourage credit unions to participate in and locate branches in a CU development district.
The governor vetoed HB 1628, which would have authorized prize-linked saving accounts for credit unions and other financial institutions. According to the Cornerstone league, the governor’s veto message indicated that the bill would have violated the constitutional prohibition on raffles for any purpose other than for charitable purposes. The governor stated that to make this change in the law would have required a constitutional amendment being adopted by the Legislature and the voters in Texas.
The governor did sign HB 1733, which addresses insurance for drivers of transportation network companies (TNC), such as Uber and Lyft. The bill sets out insurance requirements for vehicles used in a TNC and requires claims payments for repairs of vehicles used in a TNC operation be paid to the repair facility directly or to the owner and lienholder jointly. HB 1733 goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.
The Cornerstone league said the governor also signed HB 2076 which adds protections for primary lienholders of vehicles, motorboats, vessels, and outboard motors when there is a foreclosure sale relating to a mechanics lien. It improves the disclosures to the primary lienholder, clarifies when a mechanics lien is extinguished, and prohibits the sale of the mechanics lien to investors. HB 2076 is effective June 19, 2015.