88R6931 MM-D
By: Schwertner S.B. No. 804
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility requirements for student loan repayment
assistance for certain mental health professionals.
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, 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, three, four, or five
consecutive years of practice in this state as described by
Subdivision (2).
(c) In addition to satisfying the requirements under
Subsection (a) or (b), 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) or (b)(3), as applicable, 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. The change in law made by this Act to Section
61.603, Education Code, applies 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 on the date the application was submitted, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.