SB2137

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs may not require a public school campus whose attendance zone contains the proposed development site to meet educational-quality criteria as a threshold for consideration. Nor may it award application points based on that campus’s educational quality. These are two separate restrictions: one on minimum eligibility, the other on competitive scoring. Final law, section 1; Definitions of allocation plan and threshold criteria.

The added restrictions expire September 1, 2027. The act separately limits its application to cycles based on the 2026 or 2027 qualified allocation plan—the agency’s rules for allocating the credits. It does not abolish the allocation plan or all other criteria, change school ratings, or guarantee any development an award. Final law, sections 1 and 3; Prior plan-adoption law.

The department must study how the change affects tax-credit allocations and report to each legislative standing committee with affordable-housing jurisdiction by November 1, 2027. That reporting deadline is after the restrictions’ stated expiration; the act does not say the study must first approve the change. Final law, section 2.

Changes during passage: All five operative versions match. Both committees reported without amendments, and the official amendment index lists none. The two-year application scope, expiration and study were present from introduction; they were not later floor amendments. Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Projects that would otherwise lose eligibility or points because of the serving campus’s educational quality may become more competitive. Projects that benefited from that scoring factor lose that particular advantage. This changes how applicants compete; it does not establish how many homes will be built, where credits will go, or whether children’s educational outcomes will improve or worsen. The required study is intended to examine allocation effects. Final law.

The April 25 fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local fiscal impact and assumes implementation costs can be absorbed within existing resources. The act makes no appropriation and does not quantify private gains, rent changes or the study’s eventual findings. Official fiscal note; Final law.