87R12720 TYPED
By: Paxton, et al. S.B. No. 1484
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain Department of State Health Services
procurements for communicable disease data collection and
investigations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.005, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.005. CONTRACTS. Subject to Section 81.0055, the
[The] department may enter into contracts or agreements with
persons as necessary to implement this chapter. The contracts or
agreements may provide for payment by the state for materials,
equipment, and services.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 81, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 81.0055 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.0055. REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN DATA COLLECTION
PROCUREMENTS. (a) This section applies only to a procurement or
the extension of an existing contract in which a private vendor
assists the department in case investigations and epidemiological
studies by collecting an individual's private or confidential data
protected under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-191) through individual
contact tracing, including contact tracing conducted by a call
center.
(b) The department must submit a written request to the
Legislative Budget Board for approval of a procurement described by
Subsection (a) before requesting a bid, proposal, or comparable
solicitation for the proposed procurement. The department must
provide to board personnel and each member of the Legislative
Budget Board information on the proposed procurement, including:
(1) the purpose of the procurement;
(2) the need addressed by the procurement;
(3) a statement of any service to be performed under
the procurement;
(4) the proposed cost of the procurement;
(5) the data use and privacy agreement to which the
department and private vendor will adhere for the duration of the
investigation or study; and
(6) any other information required by the board.
(c) Not later than the seventh day after the date the
Legislative Budget Board receives the request and required
information from the department, board personnel shall:
(1) determine whether the proposed procurement
satisfies the minimum requirements established by this section; and
(2) issue written notice that the board approves the
request for the proposed procurement required under Subdivision
(1).
(d) The legislative budget board shall include the written
notice in Subsection (c)(2) in the contract database maintained by
the legislative budget board.
(e) A vendor selected for a contract under this section:
(1) is subject to Chapter 181, Health and Safety Code,
including being subject to enforcement action;
(2) shall not provide or sell access to any protected
health information data collected; and
(3) shall destroy all protected health information
collected upon the expiration of the contract.
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practical after the effective
date of this Act, the Legislative Budget Board shall adopt any rules
and procedures necessary to implement the changes in law made by
this Act.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2022, the state auditor shall
audit each contract the Department of State Health Services entered
into for the conduct of individual contact tracing during the
disaster declared by the governor on March 13, 2020, or during an
extension of that declared disaster.
SECTION 4. (a) The legislature finds that any state
contract executed during, or during an extension of, the disaster
declared by the governor on March 13, 2020, by the Department of
State Health Services authorizing a person or entity to perform
individual contact tracing is no longer necessary to address public
health concerns. It is the intent of the legislature that the
department cancel any contract described by this subsection.
(b) The Department of State Health Services may not use any
money appropriated by this state to the department for state fiscal
years 2022 and 2023 to pay for a contract described by Subsection
(a) of this section.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.