Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1608 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R6456 MM-F
2	2	By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 1608
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of
8	8	certain demographic and other information pertaining to certain
9	9	public benefits programs.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Sections 531.0316 and 531.03161 to read as
13	13	follows:
14	14	Sec. 531.0316. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a)
15	15	Notwithstanding any other law, if the commission or a health and
16	16	human services agency collects the demographic data of individuals
17	17	who receive benefits under a health benefits program administered
18	18	by the commission or agency, as applicable, the commission or
19	19	agency, as applicable, shall, when collecting data relating to:
20	20	(1) the race or ethnic origin of an individual,
21	21	provide the individual the option to select or identify appropriate
22	22	categories and subcategories of race and ethnic origin, including:
23	23	(A) the category of Hispanic or Latino with the
24	24	option to select or identify the following subcategories:
25	25	(i) Argentinian;
26	26	(ii) Colombian;
27	27	(iii) Cuban;
28	28	(iv) Dominican (Dominican Republic);
29	29	(v) Ecuadoran;
30	30	(vi) Guatemalan;
31	31	(vii) Honduran;
32	32	(viii) Mexican;
33	33	(ix) Nicaraguan;
34	34	(x) Panamanian;
35	35	(xi) Peruvian;
36	36	(xii) Puerto Rican;
37	37	(xiii) Salvadoran;
38	38	(xiv) Spaniard;
39	39	(xv) Venezuelan; and
40	40	(xvi) another subcategory written in by the
41	41	individual;
42	42	(B) the category of African American with the
43	43	option to select or identify the following subcategories:
44	44	(i) Black American (born in the United
45	45	States with African ancestry);
46	46	(ii) African diaspora (born outside the
47	47	United States with African origins); and
48	48	(iii) another subcategory written in by the
49	49	individual;
50	50	(C) the category of Native American with the
51	51	option to select or identify the following subcategories:
52	52	(i) Apache;
53	53	(ii) Cherokee;
54	54	(iii) Chickasaw;
55	55	(iv) Choctaw;
56	56	(v) Mexican American Indian;
57	57	(vi) Navajo; and
58	58	(vii) another subcategory written in by the
59	59	individual;
60	60	(D) the category of Pacific Islander with the
61	61	option to select or identify the following subcategories:
62	62	(i) Chamorro;
63	63	(ii) Guamanian;
64	64	(iii) Marshallese;
65	65	(iv) Native Hawaiian;
66	66	(v) Samoan;
67	67	(vi) Tongan; and
68	68	(vii) another subcategory written in by the
69	69	individual;
70	70	(E) the category of Asian with the option to
71	71	select or identify the following subcategories:
72	72	(i) Indian;
73	73	(ii) Bangladeshi;
74	74	(iii) Burmese;
75	75	(iv) Cambodian;
76	76	(v) Chinese (except Taiwanese);
77	77	(vi) Filipino;
78	78	(vii) Iranian;
79	79	(viii) Japanese;
80	80	(ix) Korean;
81	81	(x) Laotian;
82	82	(xi) Nepalese;
83	83	(xii) Pakistani;
84	84	(xiii) Taiwanese;
85	85	(xiv) Thai;
86	86	(xv) Vietnamese; and
87	87	(xvi) another subcategory written in by the
88	88	individual; and
89	89	(F) the category of Middle Eastern and North
90	90	African with the option to select or identify the following
91	91	subcategories:
92	92	(i) Egyptian;
93	93	(ii) Iraqi;
94	94	(iii) Jordanian;
95	95	(iv) Lebanese;
96	96	(v) Palestinian;
97	97	(vi) Syrian; and
98	98	(vii) another subcategory written in by the
99	99	individual;
100	100	(2) the sex or gender of an individual, ask the
101	101	following questions:
102	102	(A) "What is your current gender identity?" and,
103	103	in response to the question, provide the individual the option to
104	104	select or identify as:
105	105	(i) female;
106	106	(ii) intersex;
107	107	(iii) male;
108	108	(iv) nonbinary;
109	109	(v) transgender female;
110	110	(vi) transgender male; and
111	111	(vii) another sex or gender written in by
112	112	the individual; and
113	113	(B) "What sex were you assigned on your original
114	114	birth certificate or other legal document confirming birth?" and,
115	115	in response to the question, provide the individual the option to
116	116	select:
117	117	(i) female;
118	118	(ii) male;
119	119	(iii) "I was not assigned a sex at birth";
120	120	or
121	121	(iv) "I was not issued a birth certificate
122	122	or other legal document confirming my birth"; and
123	123	(3) more than one demographic category, include the
124	124	sexual orientation of an individual as a category and provide the
125	125	individual with the option to select or identify as:
126	126	(A) asexual;
127	127	(B) bisexual;
128	128	(C) gay;
129	129	(D) heterosexual;
130	130	(E) lesbian;
131	131	(F) pansexual; and
132	132	(G) another sexual orientation written in by the
133	133	individual.
134	134	(b) The commission shall ensure that each local entity,
135	135	including a local governmental entity, responsible for providing
136	136	demographic data to the commission or a health and human services
137	137	agency in connection with a public benefits program administered by
138	138	the commission or agency, as applicable, provides the data in the
139	139	manner prescribed by this section.
140	140	(c) In collecting demographic data, the commission and each
141	141	health and human services agency shall provide individuals from
142	142	whom the data is sought the option to select more than one category
143	143	for race or ethnic origin and more than one subcategory for race or
144	144	ethnic origin.
145	145	(d) The provision of demographic data under this section by
146	146	an individual is voluntary.
147	147	(e) Not later than the first anniversary of the date the
148	148	federal decennial census is published, the commission shall update
149	149	the subcategories of race or ethnic origin to include only the
150	150	subcategories with populations larger than 7,500 as published by
151	151	the United States Census Bureau, except that each category must
152	152	include at least the six largest subcategories.
153	153	(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
154	154	to implement this section.
155	155	Sec. 531.03161. COLLECTION AND CROSS-TABULATION ANALYSIS
156	156	OF CERTAIN DATA; PUBLICATION. (a) The commission and each health
157	157	and human services agency that administers a public benefits
158	158	program shall collect the following data regarding individuals who
159	159	receive, or were receiving at the time of the individual's death,
160	160	benefits under a program:
161	161	(1) the individual's level of English proficiency; and
162	162	(2) whether the individual:
163	163	(A) has a disability;
164	164	(B) has health benefits coverage;
165	165	(C) has been diagnosed with a chronic condition,
166	166	including cancer, obesity, diabetes, or asthma;
167	167	(D) has access to health care, including
168	168	preventive care services;
169	169	(E) has a diagnosed mental health disorder;
170	170	(F) is or has been pregnant;
171	171	(G) died as a result of a pregnancy-related
172	172	cause; and
173	173	(H) had a child who died as an infant.
174	174	(b) To the extent permitted by federal law and if requested
175	175	by the commission, a local entity, including a local governmental
176	176	entity, responsible for providing demographic data to the
177	177	commission or a health and human services agency in connection with
178	178	a public benefits program administered by the commission or agency,
179	179	as applicable, shall report to the commission the data described by
180	180	Subsection (a) to the extent that data is known or obtainable by the
181	181	entity.
182	182	(c) The commission shall prepare a cross-tabulation
183	183	analysis of the data described by Subsection (a) and the
184	184	demographic data collected under Section 531.0316, including data
185	185	related to the race or ethnic origin, sex or gender, and sexual
186	186	orientation of individuals. The analysis conducted under this
187	187	subsection must consider subcategories and suboptions.
188	188	(d) Subject to Subsection (f) and to the extent permitted by
189	189	federal law, the commission shall make available to the public on
190	190	its Internet website in an easy-to-read format metric data obtained
191	191	as the result of the cross-tabulation analysis conducted under this
192	192	section and organized by the demographic data collected in
193	193	accordance with Section 531.0316. The metric data published under
194	194	this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory
195	195	or suboption, as applicable.
196	196	(e) The commission shall annually update the metric data
197	197	published under Subsection (d).
198	198	(f) The storage and communication of data under this section
199	199	must comply with existing federal and state privacy laws governing
200	200	individually identifiable information. Data made available to the
201	201	public under this section may not identify or allow for the
202	202	identification of individuals.
203	203	(g) This section does not prevent a state agency from
204	204	posting demographic data collected by the agency on the agency's
205	205	Internet website.
206	206	(h) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
207	207	to implement this section.
208	208	SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2022, the Health and
209	209	Human Services Commission shall publish on its Internet website the
210	210	metric data required under Section 531.03161(d), Government Code,
211	211	as added by this Act.
212	212	SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
213	213	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
214	214	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
215	215	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
216	216	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
217	217	waiver or authorization is granted.
218	218	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.