Texas 2011 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1908 Senate Committee Report / Bill

Filed 02/01/2025

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                    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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