By: Uresti S.B. No. 1720
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to newborn screening and the creation of the Newborn
Screening Advisory Committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as "Greyson's Law" in
memory of Greyson Morris.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a-1), Section 33.011, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a-1) Except as provided by this subsection and to [To] the
extent funding is available for the screening, the department shall
require newborn screening tests to screen for disorders listed in
the core [uniform] panel and in the secondary targets of the uniform
newborn screening panel [conditions] recommended in the 2005 report
by the American College of Medical Genetics entitled "Newborn
Screening: Toward a Uniform Screening Panel and System" or another
report determined by the department to provide more stringent
[appropriate] newborn screening guidelines to protect the health
and welfare of this state's newborns. The department, with the
advice of the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee, may require
additional newborn screening tests under this subsection to screen
for other disorders or conditions. The department may exclude from
the newborn screening tests required under this subsection
screenings for galactose epimerase and galactokinase.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 33, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 33.017 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.017. NEWBORN SCREENING ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) The department shall establish the Newborn Screening Advisory
Committee.
(b) The advisory committee consists of members appointed by
the commissioner of state health services. The advisory committee
must include the following members:
(1) health care providers;
(2) a hospital representative;
(3) persons who have family members affected by a
condition for which newborn screening is or may be required under
this subchapter; and
(4) persons who are involved in the delivery of
newborn screening services, follow-up, or treatment in this state.
(c) The advisory committee shall advise the department
regarding strategic planning, policy, rules, and services related
to newborn screening and additional newborn screening tests.
(d) The advisory committee shall adopt bylaws governing the
committee's operations.
(e) The advisory committee may appoint subcommittees.
(f) The advisory committee shall meet at least three times
each year and at other times at the call of the commissioner of
state health services.
(g) A member of the advisory committee is not entitled to
compensation, but is entitled to reimbursement for travel or other
expenses incurred by the member while conducting the business of
the advisory committee, as provided by the General Appropriations
Act.
(h) The advisory committee is not subject to Chapter 2110,
Government Code.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the commissioner of state health services shall
appoint members to the Newborn Screening Advisory Committee as
required under Section 33.017, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 33.011, Health and Safety Code,
as amended by this Act, a physician or person attending the delivery
of a newborn child is not required to subject the child to the
additional newborn screening tests required under Subsection
(a-1), Section 33.011, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this
Act, until January 1, 2010.
SECTION 5. This Act does not make an appropriation. A
provision in this Act that creates a new governmental program,
creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental
entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the
legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the
provision.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.