** REVISION **
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOTICE OF FORMAL REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

COMMITTEE:    Ways & Means
             Interim Charges 1.3, 2, 3 and 4 

TIME & DATE:  N/A
Wednesday, July 29, 2020 

PLACE:       N/A 
CHAIR:       Rep. Dustin Burrows 

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the uncertainty as to scheduling interim hearings, the Ways & Means Committee requests written submissions from interested parties and the public in regards to the assigned Interim Charges below.

Submissions are due on September 14, 2020.

Submissions should be sent via email to the committee clerk, Paige Higerd, at Paige.Higerd_HC@house.texas.gov and shall be in Word format. Submissions should be no longer than five (5) pages in length for each charge. The page limit is inclusive of any photos, graphs, spreadsheets, charts, etc. the submitter chooses to include. Submissions shall include the submitter’s name, organization or entity (if applicable and an authorized representative), mailing address, email, and telephone number.

All submissions will be circulated to each Member of the Committee after the deadline. A copy of all received comments will be made available to the public by the Chairman.

The Committee seeks responses on the Interim Charges listed below:

Charge 1.3: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 86th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:

·                HB 4347, which relates to the use of hotel occupancy, sales, and mixed beverage tax revenue for qualified projects. Examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the hotel projects, qualified hotel projects, and uses of local hotel occupancy tax revenue. Examine the negative fiscal impact to the state resulting from the dedication of the state portion of those taxes.

Charge 2: Study and consider possible methods of providing property tax relief, including potential sources of revenue that may be used to reduce or eliminate school district maintenance and operations property tax rates.

Charge 3: Study the role of the local option sales and use tax, including: an analysis of the available uses for those taxes, specifically economic development agreements; the statewide distribution of local tax rates; the proportion of the local government budget supported by sales and use taxes; the application of consistent sales sourcing rules; and the impact of shifting from origin to destination sourcing.

Charge 4: Evaluate the status of water recycling and reuse efforts in the oil and gas industry in Texas and elsewhere. Evaluate options for tax credits, deductions, or discounts to encourage recycling, treatment, or reuse of produced water from oil and gas production activities. Make recommendations on statutory or regulatory changes needed to promote recycling and reuse strategies for produced water. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Energy Resources)