By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1623
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of health care funding districts in
certain counties located on the Texas-Mexico border; authorizing
the imposition of a tax.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to 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. Subdivision (3), Section 288.001, 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 3. 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 a
population of:
(1) 500,000 or more and is adjacent to two or more
counties each of which has a population of 50,000 or more;
(2) 350,000 or more and is adjacent to a county
described by Subdivision (1); or
(3) less than 300,000 and contains one or more
municipalities with a population of 200,000 or more.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 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 serves as a member of
[shall appoint one member who meets the qualifications prescribed
by Section 288.052 to serve on] the commission. The county judge of
the county in which the district is located serves as a member of
[shall appoint any remaining members who meet the qualifications
prescribed by Section 288.052 to serve on] the commission.
(c) Service on the commission by a county commissioner or
county judge is an additional duty of that person's office.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 288.102, 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 7. 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 8. Subsection (b), Section 288.154, 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 9. 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 as a refund of an intergovernmental transfer from the
district to the state for the purpose of providing the nonfederal
share of Medicaid supplemental payment program payments, provided
that the intergovernmental transfer does not receive a federal
matching payment; 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) refund to district taxpayers the proportionate
share of the money received by the district from the Health and
Human Services Commission that is not used to fund the nonfederal
share of Medicaid supplemental payment program payments.
(d) Money in the local provider participation fund may not
be used to expand Medicaid eligibility.
(e) A local provider participation fund created under this
section shall be abolished on the expiration of a waiver under
Section 1115 of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
1315) in connection with the fund.
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 10. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 288.201,
Health and Safety Code, are 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.
(c) The commission shall set the rate of the tax imposed
under this section. The rate may not exceed the lesser of:
(1) $100 for each outpatient hospital visit; or
(2) six percent of the aggregate net patient revenue
of all district taxpayers in the district.
SECTION 11. Subsection (a), Section 288.202, 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 12. 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 13. Sections 288.003, 288.004, 288.052, 288.053,
288.054, 288.055, 288.056, 288.057, 288.058, and 288.103,
Subsection (b), Section 288.104, and Sections 288.105, 288.107,
288.153, and 288.206, Health and Safety Code, are repealed.
SECTION 14. 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 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.