By: Farias (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte) H.B. No. 1784
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2011;
May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Veteran
Affairs and Military Installations; May 19, 2011, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 19, 2011,
sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring an interagency memorandum of understanding
regarding the Public Assistance Reporting Information System and to
the use of data from that system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.0998 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.0998. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE REPORTING INFORMATION SYSTEM; MAXIMIZATION OF
BENEFITS. (a) In this section, "system" means the Public
Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS) operated by the
Administration for Children and Families of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services.
(b) The commission, the Texas Veterans Commission, the
Veterans' Land Board, and the Department of Aging and Disability
Services shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the
purposes of:
(1) coordinating and collecting information about the
use and analysis among state agencies of data received from the
system; and
(2) developing new strategies for state agencies to
use system data in ways that:
(A) generate fiscal savings for the state; and
(B) maximize the availability of and access to
benefits for veterans.
(c) The commission, the Texas Veterans Commission, and the
Department of Aging and Disability Services shall coordinate to
assist veterans in maximizing the benefits available to each
veteran by using the system.
(d) The commission and the Texas Veterans Commission
together may determine the geographic scope of the efforts
described by Subsection (c).
(e) Not later than October 1, 2012, the commission, the
Texas Veterans Commission, the Veterans' Land Board, and the
Department of Aging and Disability Services collectively shall
submit to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board a report
describing:
(1) the frequency and success with which state
agencies have used the system;
(2) the costs to the state that were avoided as a
result of state agencies' use of the system; and
(3) recommendations for future use of the system by
state agencies.
(f) Subsection (e) and this subsection expire September 1,
2013.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2011, the Health and
Human Services Commission, the Texas Veterans Commission, the
Veterans' Land Board, and the Department of Aging and Disability
Services shall enter into a memorandum of understanding as required
by Section 531.0998, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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