85R6292 SRS-D
By: Price H.B. No. 1488
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility requirements for repayment assistance for
certain mental health professional education loans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.603(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) To be eligible to receive repayment assistance under
this subchapter, a mental health professional must:
(1) apply to the board;
(2) have completed [one,] two, three, four, or five
consecutive years of practice in a mental health professional
shortage area designated by the Department of State Health
Services; and
(3) provide mental health services in this state to:
(A) recipients under the medical assistance
program authorized by Chapter 32, Human Resources Code;
(B) enrollees under the child health plan program
authorized by Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code; or
(C) persons committed to a secure correctional
facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department or persons confined in a secure correctional
facility operated by or under contract with any division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section
61.603, Education Code, applies only to eligibility for loan
repayment assistance under Subchapter K, Chapter 61, Education
Code, on the basis of an application submitted on or after September
1, 2017. Eligibility on the basis of an application submitted
before September 1, 2017, is covered by the law in effect at the
time the application was submitted, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.