By: Davis S.B. No. 386
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 102.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 102.003. SUNSET PROVISION. The Cancer Prevention and
Research Institute of Texas is subject to Chapter 325, Government
Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided
by that chapter, the institute is abolished and this chapter
expires September 1, 2015 [2021].
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.004. AUDIT. The financial transactions of the
institute and the operations of the oversight committee are subject
to audit by the state auditor in accordance with Chapter 321,
Government Code.
SECTION 3. 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) each grant proposal that is submitted to the
oversight committee for approval complies with this chapter and
with rules adopted under this chapter;
(2) each grant contract includes language describing
the terms and conditions of the grant;
(3) each grant and grant contract is annually reviewed
by the compliance officer; and
(4) the institute, its employees, and its committee
members appointed under this chapter comply with state law,
including the laws and rules governing the peer review process and
conflicts of interest.
SECTION 4. 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 and information obtained under Section 102.264
regarding each recipient's compliance with the terms and conditions
of the recipient's grant contract;
(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) an assessment of the compliance of all grant
recipients by the compliance officer.
SECTION 5. Section 102.056, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 102.056. SALARY. The oversight committee by majority
vote [institute] may approve a salary supplement for the [salary of
the] executive director and other senior institute staff members,
subject to legislative appropriations. Funding for a salary
supplement may only come from [gifts, grants, donations, or]
legislative appropriations.
SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.057 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.057. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT. (a) An oversight
committee member or institute employee may not make a personal
investment in or have a financial interest in a business entity or
other organization receiving or applying to receive money from the
institute.
(b) An oversight committee member may not serve on the board
of directors or other governing board of a nonprofit entity a
primary purpose of which is to support the institute.
(c) An institute employee may not serve on the board of
directors or other governing board of an entity receiving a grant
from the institute.
SECTION 7. Sections 102.101(b) and (e), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The oversight committee is composed of the following
nine [11] members:
(1) three members appointed by the governor;
(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant
governor; and
(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives[;
[(4) the comptroller or the comptroller's designee;
and
[(5) the attorney general or the attorney general's
designee].
(e) A person may not be a member of the oversight committee
if the person or the person's spouse:
(1) is employed by or participates in the management
of a business entity or other organization receiving money from the
institute;
(2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, an [more
than a five percent] interest in a business entity or other
organization receiving money from the institute; or
(3) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
goods, services, or money from the institute, other than
reimbursement authorized by this chapter for oversight committee
membership, attendance, or expenses.
SECTION 8. Section 102.104, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 102.104. OFFICERS. The oversight committee shall
elect [select] a presiding officer and assistant presiding officer
from among its members every two years.
SECTION 9. Sections 102.156(a) and (c), Health and Safety
Code, are amended 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 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 the
matter.
(c) A person has a [substantial] financial interest in an
entity if the person:
(1) is an employee, member, director, or officer of
the entity; or
(2) owns or controls, directly or indirectly, an [more
than a five percent] interest in the entity.
SECTION 10. Section 102.203(e), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) Not less [more] than 10 percent of the money awarded
under this subchapter each year must [may] be used for cancer
prevention and control programs [during any year].
SECTION 11. Section 102.251, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The executive director shall submit a written affidavit
for each grant application recommendation included on the list
submitted to the oversight committee under Subsection (a)(2). The
affidavit must state that the grant application has been reviewed
and recommended in accordance with the required review process
under this section.
SECTION 12. Subchapter F, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 102.2511 to read as follows:
Sec. 102.2511. GRANT APPLICANT STANDARDS OF CONDUCT. A
person, business entity, or organization applying to receive a
grant from the institute may not make a gift, grant, donation, or
other financial contribution to:
(1) the institute unless:
(A) the grant for which the applicant applied is
awarded to another applicant; or
(B) the grant recipient makes the gift, grant,
donation, or other financial contribution to the institute at least
30 days after the date the grant is awarded; or
(2) an elected state official who appoints a person to
the oversight committee, unless the gift, grant, donation, or other
financial contribution is made in compliance with other applicable
law and:
(A) the grant for which the applicant applied is
awarded to another applicant; or
(B) the grant recipient makes the gift, grant,
donation, or other financial contribution to the official at least
30 days after the date the grant is awarded.
SECTION 13. Section 102.252, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 102.252. FUNDING [OVERRIDING] RECOMMENDATIONS. The
oversight committee by two-thirds vote shall approve each grant
application submitted to the committee by [must follow the funding
recommendations of] the executive director [in the order the
executive director submits the applications to the oversight
committee unless two-thirds of the members of the oversight
committee vote to disregard a recommendation].
SECTION 14. Sections 102.255(b) and (d), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Before awarding a grant under Subchapter E, the
committee shall enter into a written contract with the grant
recipient. The contract may specify that:
(1) if all or any portion of the amount of the grant is
used to build a capital improvement:
(A) the state retains a lien or other interest in
the capital improvement in proportion to the percentage of the
grant amount used to pay for the capital improvement; and
(B) the grant recipient shall, if the capital
improvement is sold:
(i) repay to the state the grant money used
to pay for the capital improvement, with interest at the rate and
according to the other terms provided by the contract; and
(ii) share with the state a proportionate
amount of any profit realized from the sale; [and]
(2) if, as a result of an annual review required under
Section 102.264, the compliance officer determines [of a date
specified in the contract,] the grant recipient has not complied
with the terms and conditions of the grant contract and refuses to
comply with a remediation plan approved by the oversight committee
[used grant money awarded under Subchapter E for the purposes for
which the grant was intended], the recipient shall repay the [that]
grant money awarded under Subchapter E [amount] and any related
interest applicable under the contract to the state at the agreed
rate and on the agreed terms.
(d) Before the oversight committee may make for cancer
research any grant of any proceeds of the bonds issued under
Subchapter E, the recipient of the grant must have an amount of
funds equal to one-half of the grant specifically dedicated to the
research that is the subject of the grant request.
SECTION 15. Section 102.262, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The records of a foundation established to benefit the
institute shall be considered public information subject to Chapter
552, Government Code.
SECTION 16. Subchapter F, Chapter 102, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 102.263 and 102.264 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 institute employee 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.
Sec. 102.264. ANNUAL REVIEW OF GRANT RECIPIENTS BY
COMPLIANCE OFFICER. (a) The compliance officer shall annually
review each grant recipient to ensure that the grant recipient is in
compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant recipient's
contract with the institute.
(b) If the compliance officer determines that a grant
recipient has not maintained compliance with the terms and
conditions of the grant contract, the compliance officer shall
recommend a remediation plan to the oversight committee to assist
the grant recipient in complying with the contract.
(c) The oversight committee shall approve or disapprove a
remediation plan submitted by the compliance officer. If approved,
the compliance officer shall submit the approved remediation plan
to the grant recipient.
SECTION 17. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of
Texas Oversight Committee shall adopt the rules necessary to
implement the changes in law made by this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a grant
application submitted to the Cancer Prevention and Research
Institute of Texas on or after the effective date of this Act. A
grant application submitted before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
submitted, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Not later than January 1, 2014, employees, oversight
committee members, and members of other committees of the Cancer
Prevention and Research Institute of Texas must comply with the
changes in law made by this Act regarding the qualifications of the
employees and members.
SECTION 18. 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.