By: West, et al. S.B. No. 532
(Kuempel, González of El Paso, Anchía)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to repayment of certain mental health professional
education loans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.603, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.603. ELIGIBILITY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), to [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, or 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.
(b) A mental health professional may also establish
eligibility for the repayment assistance under this subchapter by
satisfying the requirements of this subsection. To establish
eligibility under this subsection, the mental health professional
must:
(1) apply to the board;
(2) provide mental health services to:
(A) patients in a state hospital, as defined by
Section 552.0011, Health and Safety Code; or
(B) individuals receiving community-based mental
health services from a local mental health authority that provides
the services in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 534, Health
and Safety Code; and
(3) have completed one, two, or three consecutive
years of practice in this state as described by Subdivision (2).
[In addition to satisfying the requirements under Subsection (a),
for a licensed physician to be eligible to receive repayment
assistance under this subchapter after the physician's third
consecutive year of practice described under Subsection (a)(2), the
physician must be certified in psychiatry by:
[(1) the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology;
or
[(2) the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and
Psychiatry.]
SECTION 2. Section 61.604(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A mental health professional may receive repayment
assistance under this subchapter for not more than three [five]
years.
SECTION 3. Section 61.607(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A mental health professional may receive repayment
assistance under this subchapter for each year the mental health
professional establishes eligibility for the assistance in an
amount determined by applying the following applicable percentage
to the maximum total amount of assistance allowed for the mental
health professional under Subsection (b):
(1) for the first year, 33.33 [10] percent;
(2) for the second year, 33.33 [15] percent; and
(3) for the third year, 33.33 [20] percent[;
[(4) for the fourth year, 25 percent; and
[(5) for the fifth year, 30 percent].
SECTION 4. Section 61.608, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The board shall administer the program under this
subchapter in a manner that, as program openings occur, allows for
the continuous:
(1) approval or disapproval of applications;
(2) determination of applicant eligibility; and
(3) acceptance of eligible applicants into the
program.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
61.603, 61.604(a), and 61.607(a), Education Code, apply only to a
person who first establishes eligibility for loan repayment
assistance under Subchapter K, Chapter 61, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, on the basis of an application submitted on or
after September 1, 2023. A person who first establishes
eligibility on the basis of an application submitted before
September 1, 2023, is governed by the law in effect at the time the
application was submitted, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.