By: Rodriguez, Duncan S.B. No. 120
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center at El Paso as a component institution of the Texas
Tech University System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 110, Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 110. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES INSTITUTIONS
[CENTER]
SECTION 2. Sections 110.01 through 110.14, Education Code,
and Section 110.16, Education Code, are designated as Subchapter A,
Chapter 110, Education Code, and a heading to that subchapter is
added to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 110.01, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 110.01. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER;
SEPARATE INSTITUTION.
SECTION 4. Chapter 110, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER AT
EL PASO
Sec. 110.30. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Board of regents" means the board of regents of
the Texas Tech University System.
(2) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
Sec. 110.31. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
AT EL PASO; SEPARATE INSTITUTION. (a) The Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center at El Paso is a component institution of the
Texas Tech University System under the direction, management, and
control of the board of regents.
(b) The center is not a department, school, or branch of any
other institution in the system. The center is composed of a
medical school and other components assigned by law or by the board
of regents.
Sec. 110.32. CONCURRENT POWERS. The board of regents has
the same powers of direction, management, and control over the
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso as the board
of regents exercises over the other component institutions of the
Texas Tech University System.
Sec. 110.33. COURSES AND DEGREES; RULES. The board of
regents may prescribe courses leading to customary degrees and may
adopt rules for the operation, control, and management of the Texas
Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso as necessary for
conducting a health sciences center of the first class.
Sec. 110.34. AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER ENTITIES.
(a) The board of regents may execute and carry out an affiliation
or coordinating agreement with any other entity or institution.
(b) The board of regents may make joint appointments in the
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso and any
other component institution of the Texas Tech University System.
The salary of a person who receives a joint appointment must be
apportioned between the appointing institutions on the basis of
services rendered.
Sec. 110.35. FACILITIES. The board of regents shall
provide for physical facilities for the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center at El Paso for use in its teaching and
research programs.
Sec. 110.36. TEACHING HOSPITALS. The board of regents may
establish one or more teaching hospitals for the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at El Paso and may enter into
agreements with existing hospitals as the board of regents
considers appropriate for that purpose.
Sec. 110.37. COORDINATING BOARD SUPERVISION. The Texas
Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso is subject to the
continuing supervision of the coordinating board under Chapter 61
and to the rules of the coordinating board adopted under that
chapter.
Sec. 110.38. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The board of regents may
solicit, accept, and administer gifts and grants from any public or
private person or entity for the use and benefit of the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at El Paso.
Sec. 110.39. PARTICIPATION IN CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL
FUNDS. In accordance with Section 17(c), Article VII, Texas
Constitution, if the Act enacting this section receives a vote of
two-thirds of all the members elected to each house of the
legislature, the institution created under this subchapter is
entitled to participate in the funding provided by Section 17,
Article VII, Texas Constitution, beginning with the annual
appropriation for the state fiscal year beginning September 1,
2015, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El
Paso shall be included in the allocation made for each 10-year
allocation period under Section 17(d), Article VII, Texas
Constitution, beginning with the allocation made in 2015.
SECTION 5. Section 110.15, Education Code, is transferred
to Subchapter B, Chapter 110, Education Code, as added by this Act,
redesignated as Section 110.40, Education Code, and amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 110.40 [110.15]. TEXAS TECH DIABETES RESEARCH
CENTER. (a) In this section:
(1) "Board" means the board of regents of the Texas
Tech University System.
(2) "Center" means the Texas Tech Diabetes Research
Center.
(b) The board shall establish the Texas Tech Diabetes
Research Center for purposes of researching issues related to:
(1) diabetes; and
(2) conditions associated with that disease,
including acanthosis nigricans, as defined by Section 95.001,
Health and Safety Code.
(c) The organization, control, and management of the center
are vested in the board.
(d) The board shall approve the employment of personnel by
and the operating budget of the center. An employee of the center
is an employee of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
at El Paso [System].
(e) The board shall select a site for the center at [the
regional academic health center of] the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center at [located in] El Paso.
(f) The center may enter into an agreement or may cooperate
with a public or private entity to perform the research functions of
the center.
(g) The board may solicit, accept, and administer gifts and
grants from any public or private source for the use and benefit of
the center.
(h) In conducting its activities under this section, the
center shall consult with The University of Texas-Pan American
Border Health Office that administers the Type 2 Diabetes risk
assessment program under Chapter 95, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 6. Subdivision (4), Section 51.821, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(4) "Participating medical school" means each of the
following entities:
(A) the medical school at The University of Texas
Health Science Center at Houston;
(B) the medical school at The University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas;
(C) the medical school at The University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio;
(D) the medical school at The University of Texas
Medical Branch at Galveston;
(E) the medical school at the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at Lubbock;
(F) the medical school at the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at El Paso;
(G) the Baylor College of Medicine;
(H) the college of osteopathic medicine at the
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth; and
(I) the medical school at The Texas A&M
University System Health Science Center.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 58.001, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The legislature finds that it will improve the quality
of the delivery of medical care to the citizens of this state and,
therefore, that it will be in the public interest of this state for
the resident physicians being educated, trained, developed, and
prepared for a career in medicine by the schools of medicine in The
University of Texas System, the Texas Tech University System
[Health Sciences Center], the Texas A&M University Medical Program,
and the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort
Worth to be compensated by those schools while the resident
physicians are undergoing education, training, development, and
preparation. The legislature further finds that the delivery of
quality medical care to the citizens of this state has been and will
continue to be enhanced by the expansion of family practice
residency programs as provided by Sections 61.501 through 61.505 of
this code and intends that nothing in this chapter be interpreted or
implemented in a manner that will deter the development or
expansion of family practice residency programs or will deter the
legislative goal of having at least 25 percent of the first-year
residency positions devoted to family medicine.
SECTION 8. Subdivisions (1) and (3), Section 59.01,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Medical staff or students" means medical doctors,
doctors of osteopathy, dentists, veterinarians, and podiatrists
appointed to the faculty or professional medical staff employed for
student health services by The University of Texas System, The
Texas A&M University System, the Texas Tech University System
[Health Sciences Center], or the University of North Texas Health
Science Center at Fort Worth, either full time or who, although
appointed less than full time (including volunteers), either devote
their total professional service to such appointment or provide
services to patients by assignment from the department chairman;
and interns, residents, fellows, and medical or dental students,
veterinary students, and students of osteopathy participating in a
patient-care program in The University of Texas System, The Texas
A&M University System, the Texas Tech University System [Health
Sciences Center], or the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth.
(3) "Board" means the board of regents of The
University of Texas System, the board of regents of The Texas A&M
University System, the board of regents of the Texas Tech
University System, or the board of regents of the University of
North Texas.
SECTION 9. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 59.02,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Each board may establish a separate self-insurance fund
to pay any damages adjudged in a court of competent jurisdiction or
a settlement of any medical malpractice claim against a member of
the medical staff or students arising from the exercise of his
appointment, duties, or training with The University of Texas
System, The Texas A&M University System, the Texas Tech University
System [Health Sciences Center], or the University of North Texas
Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
(c) On the establishment of each fund, transfers to the fund
shall be made in an amount and at such intervals as determined by
the board. Each board may receive and accept any gifts or donations
specified for the purposes of this subchapter and deposit those
gifts or donations into the fund. Each board may invest money
deposited in the fund, and any income received shall be retained in
the fund. The money shall be deposited in any of the approved
depository banks of The University of Texas System, The Texas A&M
University System, the Texas Tech University System [Health
Sciences Center], or the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth. All expenditures from the funds shall be paid
pursuant to approval by the boards.
SECTION 10. Section 59.06, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 59.06. LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATED FUNDS. Funds
appropriated by the legislature to either system, to the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center, to the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center at El Paso, or to the University of North
Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth from the General Revenue
Fund may not be used to establish or maintain the fund, to purchase
insurance, or to employ private legal counsel.
SECTION 11. Subdivision (5), Section 61.003, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(5) "Medical and dental unit" means The Texas A&M
University System Health Science Center and its component
institutions, agencies, and programs; the Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center; the Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center at El Paso; The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at
Dallas; The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio; The
University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston; The University of
Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; The University of Texas
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston; The University
of Texas Dental School at San Antonio; The University of Texas
Medical School at Houston; The University of Texas Health Science
Center--South Texas and its component institutions, if established
under Subchapter N, Chapter 74; the nursing institutions of The
Texas A&M University System and The University of Texas System; and
The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston; and such
other medical or dental schools as may be established by statute or
as provided in this chapter.
SECTION 12. Subdivision (1), Section 61.501, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(1) "Medical school" means the medical school at The
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the medical
school at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas,
the medical school at The University of Texas Health Science Center
at San Antonio, The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the
medical school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
at El Paso, the Baylor College of Medicine, the college of
osteopathic medicine at the University of North Texas Health
Science Center at Fort Worth, or the Texas A&M University Medical
Program.
SECTION 13. Section 62.021, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) Whereas the Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center at El Paso was created as a separate institution of higher
education by an Act of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013,
which was approved by a vote of more than two-thirds of the
membership of each house of the legislature, the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at El Paso is entitled to
participate in the funding provided by Section 17, Article VII,
Texas Constitution, beginning with the annual appropriation for the
state fiscal year beginning September 1, 2015, and the Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center at El Paso shall be included in
the allocation made for each 10-year allocation period under
Section 17(d), Article VII, Texas Constitution, beginning with the
allocation made in 2015.
SECTION 14. Subsection (c), Section 63.002, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) The amount available for distribution from the fund may
be appropriated only for programs that benefit medical research,
health education, or treatment programs at the following
health-related institutions of higher education:
(1) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
San Antonio;
(2) The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center;
(3) The University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas;
(4) The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston;
(5) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston;
(6) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Tyler;
(7) The University of Texas Health Science
Center--South Texas and its component institutions, if established
under Subchapter N, Chapter 74;
(8) The Texas A&M University Health Science Center;
(9) the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth;
(10) the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center;
[and]
(11) the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
at El Paso; and
(12) Baylor College of Medicine, if a contract between
Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board is in effect under Section 61.092.
SECTION 15. The board of regents of the Texas Tech
University System, as soon as practicable following the effective
date of this Act consistent with available resources, any required
approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the
goal of minimizing unnecessary disruption of existing programs,
students, faculty, and staff in El Paso, shall:
(1) establish the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center at El Paso in accordance with this Act; and
(2) assign existing programs and facilities of the
system located in El Paso County to the center to the extent those
programs and facilities support the mission and purposes of the
center.
SECTION 16. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, 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, 2013.
(b) If this Act does not receive a vote of two-thirds of all
the members elected to each house, Section 13 of this Act does not
take effect.