By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1623
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to districts in certain counties located on the
Texas-Mexico border and amending Chapter 288 of the Health and
Safety Code.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The title of Chapter 288, Health and Safety Code,
is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 288. [HEALTH CARE FUNDING] DISTRICTS IN CERTAIN
COUNTIES LOCATED ON TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER [THAT ARE ADJACENT TO
COUNTIES WITH POPULATION OF 50,000 OR MORE]
SECTION 2. Section 288.001(2), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "District" means a county [health care funding
district created by this chapter] designated by Section 288.002 as
a district under this chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 288.001(3), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "District taxpayer" means an institutional health
care provider required to pay the [a person or entity who has paid
a] tax imposed by [under] this chapter.
SECTION 4. Section 288.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 288.002. CREATION OF DISTRICT. A district is created
in each county located on the Texas-Mexico border that has:
(1) a population of 500,000 or more and is adjacent to
two or more counties each of which has a population of 50,000 or
more;
(2) a population of 50,000 or more and is adjacent to a
county described in Subsection 1;
(3) a population of less than 300,000 and contains one
or more municipalities with a population of 200,000 or more; and
(4) a population less than 75,000 and is adjacent to
the county described in Subsection 2.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 288, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 288.0031 to read as follows:
Sec. 288.0031. DISSOLUTION. A district created by this
chapter may be dissolved in the manner provided for the dissolution
of a hospital district under Subchapter E, Chapter 286.
SECTION 6. Section 288.051, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 288.051. [COMMISSION ; APPOINTMENT. (a) ]Each
district is governed by a commission, the membership of which is the
same as the commissioner's court for the county which comprises the
district[ of five members appointed as provided by this section.
[(b) Each county commissioner on the commissioners court of
the county in which the district is located shall appoint one member
who meets the qualifications prescribed by Section 288.052 to serve
on the commission. The county judge of the county shall appoint any
remaining members who meet the qualifications prescribed by Section
288.052 to serve on the commission].
SECTION 7. Section 288.102(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A district may not impose any tax authorized by this
chapter[, spend any money, including for the administrative
expenses of the district, or conduct any other business of the
commission] without an affirmative vote of a majority of the
members of the commission.
SECTION 8. Section 288.151, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 288.151. HEARING [BUDGET]. (a) Each year, the
commission shall hold a public hearing on [prepare a budget for the
following fiscal year that includes:
[(1) proposed expenditures and disbursements;
[(2) estimated receipts and collections; and
[(3)] the rates and amounts of any taxes that the
commission intends to impose during the year and how the revenue
derived from those taxes is to be spent.
(b) [The commission shall hold a public hearing on the
proposed budget.] Not later than the 10th day before the date of
the hearing, the commission shall publish at least once notice of
the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in
which the district is located.
(c) Any district taxpayer is entitled to appear at the time
and place designated in the public notice and to be heard regarding
any matter related to the taxes imposed by the district [item shown
in the proposed budget].
SECTION 9. Section 288.154(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) All income received by a district, including tax revenue
after deducting discounts and fees for assessing and collecting the
taxes, shall be deposited with the district depository as provided
by Section 288.203 and may be withdrawn only as provided by this
chapter.
SECTION 10. Subchapter D, Chapter 288, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 288.155 and 288.156 to read as
follows:
Sec. 288.155. LOCAL PROVIDER PARTICIPATION FUND;
AUTHORIZED USES OF MONEY. (a) Each district shall create a local
provider participation fund.
(b) The local provider participation fund consists of:
(1) all revenue from the tax imposed by this chapter,
including any penalties and interest from delinquent taxes;
(2) money received from the Health and Human Services
Commission that is directly related to an intergovernmental
transfer from the district to the state for the purpose of providing
the nonfederal share of Medicaid supplemental payment program
payments; and
(3) the earnings of the fund.
(c) Money deposited to the local provider participation
fund may be used only to:
(1) provide the nonfederal share of a Medicaid
supplemental payment program;
(2) subsidize indigent programs;
(3) pay the administrative expenses of the district;
(4) refund an amount of tax collected in error from a
district taxpayer; and
(5) pay to district taxpayers the proportionate share
of the money received by the district from the Health and Human
Services Commission that is directly related to an
intergovernmental transfer from the district to the state for the
purpose of providing the nonfederal share of Medicaid supplemental
payment program payments to which the district taxpayer is
entitled.
(d) A commission may use money in the local provider
participation fund for the purposes described by Subsection (c)(1)
only after the commission receives an assurance from the Health and
Human Services Commission that the nonfederal share of Medicaid
supplemental payment program payments transferred under that
subdivision will be returned to the district.
(e) Money in the local provider participation fund may not
be used to expand Medicaid eligibility.
Sec. 288.156. ALLOCATION OF CERTAIN FUNDS. Not later than
the 15th day after the date the district receives a payment
described by Section 288.155(c)(5), the district shall transfer to
each district taxpayer an amount equal to the proportionate share
of those funds to which the taxpayer is entitled.
SECTION 11. Section 288.201(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission of a district may impose an annual tax to
be assessed quarterly on all outpatient hospital visits to an
institutional health care provider located in the district. In the
first year in which the tax is imposed, the tax is assessed on the
total number of outpatient hospital visits of an institutional
health care provider reported to the Department of State Health
Services under Sections 311.032 and 311.033 in the fiscal year
ending in 2010 [2003]. The district shall update this tax basis
with the number of outpatient hospital visits reported on a
biennial basis.
SECTION 12. Section 288.202(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the county tax
assessor-collector shall collect a tax imposed under this
subchapter [unless the commission employs a tax assessor and
collector for the district]. The county tax assessor-collector
shall charge and deduct from taxes collected for the district a fee
for collecting the tax in an amount determined by the commission,
not to exceed the county tax assessor-collector's usual and
customary charges for the collection of similar taxes.
SECTION 13. Section 288.203, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 288.203. DEPOSIT [USE] OF TAX REVENUE. Revenue
[generated by a district] from the [a] tax imposed by [under] this
chapter shall be deposited in the district's local provider
participation fund [subchapter may be used only to:
[(1) provide the nonfederal share of a Medicaid
supplemental payment program;
[(2) subsidize indigent programs; and
[(3) pay administrative expenses of the district].
SECTION 14. Sections 288.003, 288.004, 288.052, 288.053,
288.054, 288.055, 288.056, 288.057, 288.058, 288.103, 288.104(b),
288.105, 288.107, 288.153, and 288.206, Health and Safety Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 15. If before implementing any provision of this
Act a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.