The Authority is a public authority and body politic and corporate created in
1984 by an act of the Texas Legislature to provide financing for the
construction or acquisition of facilities for State agencies.
The Authority is governed by a board of directors composed of seven members
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The
current members of the Authority Board, the office held by each member, the
occupation of each member, and the date on which each member's term expires are
provided under Board.
The Authority employs an Executive Director who is charged with managing the
affairs of the Authority, subject to and under the direction of the Authority
Board. The Executive Director is Robert P. Coalter, who has served in this
capacity since March 19, 2012. The agency has an FTE cap of 15 FTEs, and an annual
operating budget of approximately $925,000.
Before the Authority may issue bonds for the acquisition or construction of a
building for a State agency, other than on institution of higher education, the
Legislature must have authorized the specific project for which the bonds are
to be issued and the estimated cost of the project or the maximum amount of
bonded indebtedness that may be incurred by the issuance of bonds.
Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 1232 (the Authority's enabling law),
and Chapters 1401, and 1403, the Authority issues general obligation and
revenue bonds for designated State agencies and maintains the Master Lease
Purchase Program, a revenue commercial paper program used primarily to finance
equipment acquisitions by State agencies.
Additionally, the Legislature may authorize a bond issue and designate the
Authority as the exclusive issuer in other statutes. For example, under the
1999 amendment to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, the Authority has issued
revenue bonds on behalf of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for
improvements to state parks and park facilities, and under amendments to the
Texas Labor Code enacted in 2003, the Authority has issued revenue bonds for
the Texas Workforce Commission to fund the Unemployment Compensation Fund.
Further, the Authority has established a nonprofit corporation to issue bonds
to finance facilities for charter schools as directed in Texas Education Code,
Ch. 53.
Under these authorities, the Authority has issued revenue and/or general
obligation bonds for the following state agencies: the Department of
Agriculture, the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Texas Facilities
Commission (formerly the Building and
Procurement Commission), the Department of Criminal Justice, certain health and
human services agencies, including the Health and Human Services Commission,
the Department of State Health Services, and the Department of Aging and
Disability Services, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas,
the Historical Commission, the Juvenile Probation
Commission, the Military Facilities Commission, the Texas National Research
Laboratory Commission (the agency responsible for the State’s share of the
construction of the Superconducting Supercollider), the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, the State Preservation Board, the Texas State Technical
College System, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Workers’
Compensation Fund, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Youth Commission,
Midwestern State University, Stephen F. Austin University, and Texas Southern
University. The Authority currently administers five commercial paper
programs; namely: the Master Lease Purchase Program, which is primarily for
financing equipment acquisitions through a revenue commercial paper program; two
General Obligation commercial paper programs (Series 2002A and Series 2008) for certain general
state government construction projects; the General Obligation Commercial
Paper program (Series 2002B) for the Colonia Roadway program; and a general obligation commercial
paper program for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
|