83R2373 AED-D
By: Nelson S.B. No. 149
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 102.051, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The institute shall employ a compliance officer, who,
under the direction of the executive director, shall ensure that:
(1) all grant proposals comply with this chapter and
with rules adopted under this chapter before being submitted to the
oversight committee for approval; and
(2) the institute and its employees and its committee
members appointed under this chapter comply with all laws and rules
governing the peer review process and conflicts of interest.
SECTION 2. Section 102.052(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The institute shall issue an annual public report
outlining the institute's activities, grants awarded, grants in
progress, research accomplishments, and future program
directions. The report must include:
(1) the number and dollar amounts of research and
facilities grants;
(2) identification of the grant recipients for the
reported year;
(3) the institute's administrative expenses;
(4) an assessment of the availability of funding for
cancer research from sources other than the institute;
(5) a summary of findings of research funded by the
institute, including promising new research areas;
(6) an assessment of the relationship between the
institute's grants and the overall strategy of its research
program;
(7) a statement of the institute's strategic research
and financial plans; [and]
(8) an estimate of how much cancer has cost the state
during the year, including the amounts spent by the state relating
to cancer by the child health program, the Medicaid program, the
Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the Employees Retirement
System of Texas; and
(9) a statement of the institute's compliance program
activities, including any proposed legislation or other
recommendations identified through the activities.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.057 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.057. PROHIBITED OFFICE LOCATION. An institute
employee may not have an office in a facility owned by an entity
receiving or applying to receive money from the institute.
SECTION 4. Section 102.107, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 102.107. POWERS AND DUTIES. The oversight committee
shall:
(1) hire an executive director;
(2) annually set priorities for each grant program and
each category of funded research that receives money under this
chapter; and
(3) consider the priorities set under Subdivision (2)
in awarding grants under this chapter.
SECTION 5. Section 102.156, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to
read as follows:
(a) A member of a research and prevention programs
committee, the university advisory committee, or any ad hoc
committee appointed under this subchapter shall disclose in writing
to the executive director if the member has a professional [an
interest in a matter that comes before the member's committee] or
[has] a substantial financial interest in an entity that has a
direct interest in a [the] matter that comes before the member's
committee.
(d) A person has a professional interest in an entity
receiving or applying to receive money from the institute if the
person:
(1) is a member of the board of directors, other
governing board, or any committee of the entity during the same
grant cycle;
(2) serves as an elected or appointed officer of the
entity;
(3) is an employee of or is negotiating future
employment with the entity;
(4) represents the entity;
(5) is a professional associate of a primary member of
the entity's research or prevention program applicant's team;
(6) is, or within the preceding six years has been, a
student, postdoctoral associate, or part of a laboratory research
group for a primary member of the entity's research or prevention
program applicant's team;
(7) is engaged or is actively planning to be engaged in
collaboration with a primary member of the entity's research or
prevention program applicant's team; or
(8) has long-standing scientific differences or
disagreements with a primary member of the entity's research or
prevention program applicant's team, and those differences:
(A) are known to the professional community; and
(B) could be perceived as affecting objectivity.
SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.157 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.157. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: WAIVER. (a) The
executive director may expressly waive the recusal requirement and
participation prohibition of Section 102.156(b) if the executive
director determines that:
(1) it would be difficult or impractical to carry out
necessary action without the waiver;
(2) the need for the participation of the member
outweighs the member's potential bias; and
(3) the waiver is in the best interest of the institute
and would not impair the integrity of the deliberation, action, or
decision.
(b) The executive director shall maintain a written record
of each waiver and the reasons for it.
SECTION 7. Subchapter F, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.263 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.263. COMPLIANCE PROGRAM. (a) In this section,
"compliance program" means a process to assess and ensure
compliance by the institute's committee members and employees with
applicable laws, rules, and policies, including matters of:
(1) ethics and standards of conduct;
(2) financial reporting;
(3) internal accounting controls; and
(4) auditing.
(b) The institute shall establish a compliance program that
operates under the direction of the institute's compliance officer.
The institute may establish procedures, such as a telephone
hotline, to allow private access to the compliance program office
and to preserve the confidentiality of communications and the
anonymity of a person making a compliance report or participating
in a compliance investigation.
(c) The following are confidential:
(1) information that directly or indirectly reveals
the identity of an individual who made a report to the institute's
compliance program office, sought guidance from the office, or
participated in an investigation conducted under the compliance
program; and
(2) information that directly or indirectly reveals
the identity of an individual who is alleged to have or may have
planned, initiated, or participated in activities that are the
subject of a report made to the office if, after completing an
investigation, the office determines the report to be
unsubstantiated or without merit.
(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to information related to
an individual who consents to disclosure of the information.
(e) Information is excepted from disclosure under Chapter
552, Government Code, if it is collected or produced in a compliance
program investigation and releasing the information would
interfere with an ongoing compliance investigation.
(f) Information made confidential or excepted from public
disclosure by this section may be made available to the following on
request in compliance with applicable law and procedure:
(1) a law enforcement agency or prosecutor;
(2) a governmental agency responsible for
investigating the matter that is the subject of a compliance
report, including the Texas Workforce Commission civil rights
division or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; or
(3) a committee member or employee of the institute
who is responsible under institutional policy for a compliance
program investigation or for a review of a compliance program
investigation.
(g) A disclosure under Subsection (f) is not a voluntary
disclosure for purposes of Section 552.007, Government Code.
SECTION 8. (a) Not later than December 1, 2013, the Cancer
Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee
shall employ a compliance officer as required by Section
102.051(c), Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
Oversight Committee shall establish a compliance program as
required by Section 102.263, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 9. 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.