87R3789 JG-D
By: Leach H.B. No. 1592
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of an interim registry for certain
persons who have been accused of employee misconduct and are
employed by a facility that provides care to individuals with an
intellectual disability.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 253.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) If the employee notified of the violation makes a timely
request for a hearing on the determination, the commission shall
record the reportable conduct in the interim registry under Section
253.0035 in a manner that is consistent with that section.
SECTION 2. Chapter 253, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 253.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 253.0035. INTERIM REGISTRY. (a) In this section and
Section 253.003, "commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(b) The commission shall establish an interim registry of
employees against whom a determination or finding of reportable
conduct is made and who have made a timely request for a hearing on
the determination or finding under Section 253.003 of this code or
Section 48.404, Human Resources Code. The information included in
the interim registry must include:
(1) the employee's name;
(2) the employee's address;
(3) the employee's social security number;
(4) the name of the facility or individual employer of
the employee;
(5) the address of the facility or individual employer
of the employee;
(6) the date on which the reportable conduct occurred;
and
(7) a description of the reportable conduct.
(c) The executive commissioner shall allow providers
participating in the home and community-based services (HCS) waiver
program or the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver program direct
access to the interim registry. The executive commissioner by rule
shall require a provider to take necessary actions regarding an
employee who is included in the interim registry. The actions taken
by a provider under this subsection:
(1) must be based on the seriousness of the reportable
conduct for which the employee is included in the interim registry;
and
(2) may include:
(A) additional monitoring;
(B) reassignment; or
(C) suspension.
(d) The commission immediately shall remove an employee
from the interim registry after a final decision on the reportable
conduct is made and all rights to appeal the decision have been
exhausted.
(e) Information contained in the interim registry is
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code. Confidential information contained in the interim
registry may be disclosed to appropriate persons only in accordance
with commission rules.
(f) A provider is not civilly liable for failing to hire an
employee who was, at the time the provider made the hiring decision,
included in the interim registry.
SECTION 3. Section 48.404, Human Resources Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) If the employee notified of the violation makes a timely
request for a hearing on the finding, the commission shall record
the reportable conduct in the interim registry under Section
253.0035, Health and Safety Code, in a manner that is consistent
with that section.
SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules as necessary to implement the
changes in law made by this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.