89R9309 LRM-F
By: Vo H.B. No. 5242
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of
demographic and other information pertaining to certain public
benefits programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 526, Government Code, as
effective April 1, 2025, is amended by adding Sections 526.0011 and
526.0012 to read as follows:
Sec. 526.0011. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a)
Subject to Subsection (e) and 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 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:
(1) American Indian or Alaska Native, with a write-in
box to state the specific group with which the person identifies,
such as Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat
Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, Maya, or any
other subcategory with which the person identifies;
(2) Asian, including the following subcategories:
(A) Asian Indian;
(B) Chinese;
(C) Filipino;
(D) Korean;
(E) Pakistani;
(F) Vietnamese; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
Asian subcategory with which the person identifies, such as Hmong,
Afghan, or Japanese;
(3) Black or African American, including the following
subcategories:
(A) African American;
(B) Ethiopian;
(C) Haitian;
(D) Jamaican;
(E) Nigerian;
(F) Somali; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
Black or African American subcategory with which the person
identifies, such as Trinidadian, Tobagonian, Ghanian, or
Congolese;
(4) Hispanic or Latino, including the following
subcategories:
(A) Cuban;
(B) Dominican;
(C) Guatemalan;
(D) Mexican;
(E) Puerto Rican;
(F) Salvadoran; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
Hispanic or Latino subcategory with which the person identifies,
such as Colombian, Honduran, or Spaniard;
(5) Middle Eastern or North African, including the
following subcategories:
(A) Egyptian;
(B) Iranian;
(C) Iraqi;
(D) Israeli;
(E) Lebanese;
(F) Syrian; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
Middle Eastern or North African subcategory with which the person
identifies, such as Moroccan, Yemeni, or Kurdish;
(6) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, including the
following subcategories:
(A) Chamorro;
(B) Fijian;
(C) Marshallese;
(D) Native Hawaiian;
(E) Samoan;
(F) Tongan; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander subcategory with which the
person identifies, such as Chuukese, Palauan, or Tahitian; and
(7) White, including the following subcategories:
(A) English;
(B) German;
(C) Irish;
(D) Italian;
(E) Polish;
(F) Scottish; and
(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other
White subcategory with which the person identifies, such as French,
Swedish, or Norwegian.
(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:
(1) select more than one category for race or ethnic
origin;
(2) select more than one subcategory for race or
ethnic origin; and
(3) write in a race or ethnic origin not listed.
(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. 526.0012. 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 526.0011. The analysis
conducted under this subsection must consider subcategories,
including those provided by individuals as a write-in option.
(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 526.0011. The metric data published under
this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory,
including those provided by individuals as a write-in option, 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 January 1, 2028:
(1) the Health and Human Services Commission and each
health and human services agency to which Sections 526.0011 and
526.0012, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply shall revise
the commission's or agency's data collection and reporting
standards and forms as necessary to comply with those sections; and
(2) the Health and Human Services Commission shall
publish on its Internet website the metric data required under
Section 526.0012(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, 2025.