1. (a) Background. The Texas Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant Program was authorized by the 75th Legislature to provide state funds to assist communities that have been adversely impacted by decreased defense expenditures and defense worker employment. The program provides affected municipalities, counties or regional planning commissions access to state funding for the purpose of acquiring federal grant assistance or for sharing in the costs of property purchases, construction, rehabilitation, or renovation of facilities or infrastructure, purchase of capital equipment or insurance.
2. (b) The primary goal of the program is to increase employment opportunities for dislocated defense workers and reuse vacated property as efficiently as possible.

3. (c) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

   1. (1) Awardee--The local governmental entity whose application is approved by the governing board.

   2. (2) Defense worker--

      1. (A) an employee of the United States Department of Defense, including a member of the armed forces and a government civilian worker; or
      2. (B) an employee of a government agency or private business, or entity providing a Department of Defense related function, who is employed on a defense facility; or
      3. (C) an employee of a business that provides direct services or products to the Department of Defense and whose job is directly dependent on defense expenditures;
      4. (D) an employee of a local, state or federal agency that provides direct services through contract or memorandum of agreement or an employee of a private business that provides direct services, supplies or equipment under a government contract or purchase agreement to the Department of Defense; or
      5. (E) an employee or private contractor employed by the United States Department of Energy working on a defense or department of energy facility in support of a department of defense related project.

   3. (3) Defense worker job--

      1. (A) a department of defense authorized permanent position, such as a position contained on the appropriate unit manning documents; or
      2. (B) a position held or occupied by one or more defense workers for more than 12 months.
   4. (4) Department--The Texas Department of Economic Development.
   5. (5) Executive director--The executive director of the Texas Department of Economic Development.
   6. (6) Financial partners--Federal and state agencies, private and public non-profit foundations, local taxing authorities, and private investors who agree to provide money for a project eligible for funding under this grant.
   7. (7) Governing board--The governing board of the Texas Department of Economic Development.
   8. (8) Local governmental entity--A municipality or county governing body or regional planning commission.
   9. (9) Panel--The Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Panel, a group of five professional full-time employees from within the department, who evaluate grant applications and make grant award recommendations to the department's governing board.

Source Note:The provisions of this §174.1 adopted to be effective September 15, 1997, 22 TexReg 8960.