The bill, H.B. No. 3471, amends the Government Code to expand the permissible uses of funds from the historic infrastructure sustainability trust fund. Specifically, it adds the purposes of "improving" and "restoring" historic sites to the existing uses of maintaining, preserving, and rehabilitating these sites. Additionally, it clarifies that funds distributed to the Texas Historical Commission can only be used for state historic sites under the commission's control and for the historic courthouse preservation program, with at least one-third of the annual distribution allocated for the latter. The bill also prohibits the use of these funds for salaries, employee benefits, or administrative costs.

Furthermore, the bill includes a provision that the commission must certify to the Legislative Budget Board that any additional distribution from the fund will comply with state procurement laws and will not be used for acquiring new historic sites or purchasing unrelated capital equipment. The changes made by this Act will apply only to distributions requested on or after its effective date of September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Government Code 442.0151 (Government Code 442)