Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5242 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9309 LRM-F
2	2	By: Vo H.B. No. 5242
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of
10	10	demographic and other information pertaining to certain public
11	11	benefits programs.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 526, Government Code, as
14	14	effective April 1, 2025, is amended by adding Sections 526.0011 and
15	15	526.0012 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 526.0011. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a)
17	17	Subject to Subsection (e) and notwithstanding any other law, if the
18	18	commission or a health and human services agency collects the
19	19	demographic data of individuals who receive benefits under a health
20	20	benefits program administered by the commission or agency, as
21	21	applicable, the commission or agency, as applicable, shall, when
22	22	collecting data relating to the race or ethnic origin of an
23	23	individual, provide the individual the option to select or identify
24	24	appropriate categories and subcategories of race and ethnic origin,
25	25	including:
26	26	(1) American Indian or Alaska Native, with a write-in
27	27	box to state the specific group with which the person identifies,
28	28	such as Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian
29	29	Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat
30	30	Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, Maya, or any
31	31	other subcategory with which the person identifies;
32	32	(2) Asian, including the following subcategories:
33	33	(A) Asian Indian;
34	34	(B) Chinese;
35	35	(C) Filipino;
36	36	(D) Korean;
37	37	(E) Pakistani;
38	38	(F) Vietnamese; and
39	39	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
40	40	Asian subcategory with which the person identifies, such as Hmong,
41	41	Afghan, or Japanese;
42	42	(3) Black or African American, including the following
43	43	subcategories:
44	44	(A) African American;
45	45	(B) Ethiopian;
46	46	(C) Haitian;
47	47	(D) Jamaican;
48	48	(E) Nigerian;
49	49	(F) Somali; and
50	50	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
51	51	Black or African American subcategory with which the person
52	52	identifies, such as Trinidadian, Tobagonian, Ghanian, or
53	53	Congolese;
54	54	(4) Hispanic or Latino, including the following
55	55	subcategories:
56	56	(A) Cuban;
57	57	(B) Dominican;
58	58	(C) Guatemalan;
59	59	(D) Mexican;
60	60	(E) Puerto Rican;
61	61	(F) Salvadoran; and
62	62	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
63	63	Hispanic or Latino subcategory with which the person identifies,
64	64	such as Colombian, Honduran, or Spaniard;
65	65	(5) Middle Eastern or North African, including the
66	66	following subcategories:
67	67	(A) Egyptian;
68	68	(B) Iranian;
69	69	(C) Iraqi;
70	70	(D) Israeli;
71	71	(E) Lebanese;
72	72	(F) Syrian; and
73	73	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
74	74	Middle Eastern or North African subcategory with which the person
75	75	identifies, such as Moroccan, Yemeni, or Kurdish;
76	76	(6) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, including the
77	77	following subcategories:
78	78	(A) Chamorro;
79	79	(B) Fijian;
80	80	(C) Marshallese;
81	81	(D) Native Hawaiian;
82	82	(E) Samoan;
83	83	(F) Tongan; and
84	84	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
85	85	Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander subcategory with which the
86	86	person identifies, such as Chuukese, Palauan, or Tahitian; and
87	87	(7) White, including the following subcategories:
88	88	(A) English;
89	89	(B) German;
90	90	(C) Irish;
91	91	(D) Italian;
92	92	(E) Polish;
93	93	(F) Scottish; and
94	94	(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
95	95	White subcategory with which the person identifies, such as French,
96	96	Swedish, or Norwegian.
97	97	(b) The commission shall ensure that each local entity,
98	98	including a local governmental entity, responsible for providing
99	99	demographic data to the commission or a health and human services
100	100	agency in connection with a public benefits program administered by
101	101	the commission or agency, as applicable, provides the data in the
102	102	manner prescribed by this section.
103	103	(c) In collecting demographic data, the commission and each
104	104	health and human services agency shall provide individuals from
105	105	whom the data is sought the option to:
106	106	(1) select more than one category for race or ethnic
107	107	origin;
108	108	(2) select more than one subcategory for race or
109	109	ethnic origin; and
110	110	(3) write in a race or ethnic origin not listed.
111	111	(d) The provision of demographic data under this section by
112	112	an individual is voluntary.
113	113	(e) Not later than the first anniversary of the date the
114	114	federal decennial census is published, the commission shall update
115	115	the subcategories of race or ethnic origin to include only the
116	116	subcategories with populations larger than 7,500 as published by
117	117	the United States Census Bureau, except that each category must
118	118	include at least the six largest subcategories.
119	119	(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
120	120	to implement this section.
121	121	Sec. 526.0012. COLLECTION AND CROSS-TABULATION ANALYSIS OF
122	122	CERTAIN DATA; PUBLICATION. (a) The commission and each health and
123	123	human services agency that administers a public benefits program
124	124	shall collect the following data regarding individuals who receive,
125	125	or were receiving at the time of the individual's death, benefits
126	126	under a program:
127	127	(1) the individual's level of English proficiency; and
128	128	(2) whether the individual:
129	129	(A) has a disability;
130	130	(B) has health benefits coverage;
131	131	(C) has been diagnosed with a chronic condition,
132	132	including cancer, obesity, diabetes, or asthma;
133	133	(D) has access to health care, including
134	134	preventive care services;
135	135	(E) has a diagnosed mental health disorder;
136	136	(F) is or has been pregnant;
137	137	(G) died as a result of a pregnancy-related
138	138	cause; and
139	139	(H) had a child who died as an infant.
140	140	(b) To the extent permitted by federal law and if requested
141	141	by the commission, a local entity, including a local governmental
142	142	entity, responsible for providing demographic data to the
143	143	commission or a health and human services agency in connection with
144	144	a public benefits program administered by the commission or agency,
145	145	as applicable, shall report to the commission the data described by
146	146	Subsection (a) to the extent that data is known or obtainable by the
147	147	entity.
148	148	(c) The commission shall prepare a cross-tabulation
149	149	analysis of the data described by Subsection (a) and the
150	150	demographic data collected under Section 526.0011. The analysis
151	151	conducted under this subsection must consider subcategories,
152	152	including those provided by individuals as a write-in option.
153	153	(d) Subject to Subsection (f) and to the extent permitted by
154	154	federal law, the commission shall make available to the public on
155	155	its Internet website in an easy-to-read format metric data obtained
156	156	as the result of the cross-tabulation analysis conducted under this
157	157	section and organized by the demographic data collected in
158	158	accordance with Section 526.0011. The metric data published under
159	159	this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory,
160	160	including those provided by individuals as a write-in option, as
161	161	applicable.
162	162	(e) The commission shall annually update the metric data
163	163	published under Subsection (d).
164	164	(f) The storage and communication of data under this section
165	165	must comply with existing federal and state privacy laws governing
166	166	individually identifiable information. Data made available to the
167	167	public under this section may not identify or allow for the
168	168	identification of individuals.
169	169	(g) This section does not prevent a state agency from
170	170	posting demographic data collected by the agency on the agency's
171	171	Internet website.
172	172	(h) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
173	173	to implement this section.
174	174	SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2028:
175	175	(1) the Health and Human Services Commission and each
176	176	health and human services agency to which Sections 526.0011 and
177	177	526.0012, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply shall revise
178	178	the commission's or agency's data collection and reporting
179	179	standards and forms as necessary to comply with those sections; and
180	180	(2) the Health and Human Services Commission shall
181	181	publish on its Internet website the metric data required under
182	182	Section 526.0012(d), Government Code, as added by this Act.
183	183	SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
184	184	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
185	185	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
186	186	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
187	187	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
188	188	waiver or authorization is granted.
189	189	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.