By: Madden (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 1908
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 14, 2011;
April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to student loan repayment assistance for certain providers
of correctional health care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.532, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.532. ELIGIBILITY. [(a)] To be eligible to receive
repayment assistance, a physician must:
(1) apply to the coordinating board;
(2) at the time of application, be licensed to
practice medicine under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
(3) have completed one, two, three, or four
consecutive years of practice in a health professional shortage
area designated by the Department of State Health Services; and
(4) provide health care services to:
(A) recipients under the medical assistance
program authorized by Chapter 32, Human Resources Code; [or]
(B) enrollees under the child health plan program
authorized by Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code; or
(C) persons committed to a secure correctional
facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Youth
Commission or persons confined in a secure correctional facility
operated by or under contract with any division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
SECTION 2. Section 61.533, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.533. LIMITATION. (a) A physician may receive
repayment assistance grants for not more than four years.
(b) Repayment assistance grants paid in relation to
services described by Section 61.532(4)(C) are limited to the first
10 physicians who establish eligibility for those grants each year.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 501.156 to read as follows:
Sec. 501.156. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE. (a) From
funds appropriated for purposes of correctional managed health
care, the committee may provide student loan repayment assistance
for medical and mental health care physicians and other staff
providing correctional managed health care. The repayment
assistance may be applied to any student loan received through any
lender for education at a public or accredited private institution
of higher education in the United States, including loans for
undergraduate, graduate, and medical education.
(b) The committee may adopt rules to implement this section,
including rules governing eligibility for the loan repayment
assistance and the terms of contracts between the committee and
recipients of the loan repayment assistance. In adopting those
rules, the committee shall consider the requirements of Subchapter
J, Chapter 61, Education Code, and the rules of the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board adopted under that subchapter.
(c) A physician may not receive loan repayment assistance
under both this section and Subchapter J, Chapter 61, Education
Code.
(d) Not later than December 1 of each state fiscal year, the
committee shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Board and
the governor on the use of funds under this section for the
preceding fiscal year.
SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall:
(1) not later than December 1, 2011, adopt any rules
necessary under Sections 61.532 and 61.533, Education Code, as
amended by this Act; and
(2) not later than January 1, 2012, begin providing as
permitted by those sections student loan repayment assistance to
providers of health care in secure correctional facilities.
SECTION 5. The Correctional Managed Health Care Committee
shall:
(1) not later than December 1, 2011, adopt the rules
for the provision of student loan repayment assistance under
Section 501.156, Government Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) not later than January 1, 2012, begin providing
student loan repayment assistance under that section.
SECTION 6. 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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