88R3101 MM-F
By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 986
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of
certain demographic and other information pertaining to certain
public benefits programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 531.0316 and 531.03161 to read as
follows:
Sec. 531.0316. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, if the commission or a health and
human services agency collects the demographic data of individuals
who receive benefits under a health benefits program administered
by the commission or agency, as applicable, the commission or
agency, as applicable, shall, when collecting data relating to:
(1) the race or ethnic origin of an individual,
provide the individual the option to select or identify appropriate
categories and subcategories of race and ethnic origin, including:
(A) the category of Hispanic or Latino with the
option to select or identify the following subcategories:
(i) Argentinian;
(ii) Colombian;
(iii) Cuban;
(iv) Dominican (Dominican Republic);
(v) Ecuadoran;
(vi) Guatemalan;
(vii) Honduran;
(viii) Mexican;
(ix) Nicaraguan;
(x) Panamanian;
(xi) Peruvian;
(xii) Puerto Rican;
(xiii) Salvadoran;
(xiv) Spaniard;
(xv) Venezuelan; and
(xvi) another subcategory written in by the
individual;
(B) the category of African American with the
option to select or identify the following subcategories:
(i) Black American (born in the United
States with African ancestry);
(ii) African diaspora (born outside the
United States with African origins); and
(iii) another subcategory written in by the
individual;
(C) the category of Native American with the
option to select or identify the following subcategories:
(i) Apache;
(ii) Cherokee;
(iii) Chickasaw;
(iv) Choctaw;
(v) Mexican American Indian;
(vi) Navajo; and
(vii) another subcategory written in by the
individual;
(D) the category of Pacific Islander with the
option to select or identify the following subcategories:
(i) Chamorro;
(ii) Guamanian;
(iii) Marshallese;
(iv) Native Hawaiian;
(v) Samoan;
(vi) Tongan; and
(vii) another subcategory written in by the
individual;
(E) the category of Asian with the option to
select or identify the following subcategories:
(i) Indian;
(ii) Bangladeshi;
(iii) Burmese;
(iv) Cambodian;
(v) Chinese (except Taiwanese);
(vi) Filipino;
(vii) Iranian;
(viii) Japanese;
(ix) Korean;
(x) Laotian;
(xi) Nepalese;
(xii) Pakistani;
(xiii) Taiwanese;
(xiv) Thai;
(xv) Vietnamese; and
(xvi) another subcategory written in by the
individual; and
(F) the category of Middle Eastern and North
African with the option to select or identify the following
subcategories:
(i) Egyptian;
(ii) Iraqi;
(iii) Jordanian;
(iv) Lebanese;
(v) Palestinian;
(vi) Syrian; and
(vii) another subcategory written in by the
individual;
(2) the sex or gender of an individual, ask the
following questions:
(A) "What is your current gender identity?" and,
in response to the question, provide the individual the option to
select or identify as:
(i) female;
(ii) intersex;
(iii) male;
(iv) nonbinary;
(v) transgender female;
(vi) transgender male; and
(vii) another sex or gender written in by
the individual; and
(B) "What sex were you assigned on your original
birth certificate or other legal document confirming birth?" and,
in response to the question, provide the individual the option to
select:
(i) female;
(ii) male;
(iii) "I was not assigned a sex at birth";
or
(iv) "I was not issued a birth certificate
or other legal document confirming my birth"; and
(3) more than one demographic category, include the
sexual orientation of an individual as a category and provide the
individual with the option to select or identify as:
(A) asexual;
(B) bisexual;
(C) gay;
(D) heterosexual;
(E) lesbian;
(F) pansexual; and
(G) another sexual orientation written in by the
individual.
(b) The commission shall ensure that each local entity,
including a local governmental entity, responsible for providing
demographic data to the commission or a health and human services
agency in connection with a public benefits program administered by
the commission or agency, as applicable, provides the data in the
manner prescribed by this section.
(c) In collecting demographic data, the commission and each
health and human services agency shall provide individuals from
whom the data is sought the option to select more than one category
for race or ethnic origin and more than one subcategory for race or
ethnic origin.
(d) The provision of demographic data under this section by
an individual is voluntary.
(e) Not later than the first anniversary of the date the
federal decennial census is published, the commission shall update
the subcategories of race or ethnic origin to include only the
subcategories with populations larger than 7,500 as published by
the United States Census Bureau, except that each category must
include at least the six largest subcategories.
(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
to implement this section.
Sec. 531.03161. COLLECTION AND CROSS-TABULATION ANALYSIS
OF CERTAIN DATA; PUBLICATION. (a) The commission and each health
and human services agency that administers a public benefits
program shall collect the following data regarding individuals who
receive, or were receiving at the time of the individual's death,
benefits under a program:
(1) the individual's level of English proficiency; and
(2) whether the individual:
(A) has a disability;
(B) has health benefits coverage;
(C) has been diagnosed with a chronic condition,
including cancer, obesity, diabetes, or asthma;
(D) has access to health care, including
preventive care services;
(E) has a diagnosed mental health disorder;
(F) is or has been pregnant;
(G) died as a result of a pregnancy-related
cause; and
(H) had a child who died as an infant.
(b) To the extent permitted by federal law and if requested
by the commission, a local entity, including a local governmental
entity, responsible for providing demographic data to the
commission or a health and human services agency in connection with
a public benefits program administered by the commission or agency,
as applicable, shall report to the commission the data described by
Subsection (a) to the extent that data is known or obtainable by the
entity.
(c) The commission shall prepare a cross-tabulation
analysis of the data described by Subsection (a) and the
demographic data collected under Section 531.0316, including data
related to the race or ethnic origin, sex or gender, and sexual
orientation of individuals. The analysis conducted under this
subsection must consider subcategories and suboptions.
(d) Subject to Subsection (f) and to the extent permitted by
federal law, the commission shall make available to the public on
its Internet website in an easy-to-read format metric data obtained
as the result of the cross-tabulation analysis conducted under this
section and organized by the demographic data collected in
accordance with Section 531.0316. The metric data published under
this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory
or suboption, as applicable.
(e) The commission shall annually update the metric data
published under Subsection (d).
(f) The storage and communication of data under this section
must comply with existing federal and state privacy laws governing
individually identifiable information. Data made available to the
public under this section may not identify or allow for the
identification of individuals.
(g) This section does not prevent a state agency from
posting demographic data collected by the agency on the agency's
Internet website.
(h) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
to implement this section.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2024, the Health and
Human Services Commission shall publish on its Internet website the
metric data required under Section 531.03161(d), Government Code,
as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.