BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2251

By: Hernandez

Public Health

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The healthy community collaborative program promotes collaboration between the public and the private sector to integrate services for people experiencing hardships such as homelessness, substance abuse issues, and mental illness. However, the program's grant eligibility conditions include a matching funds requirement, which restricts grantees to using funds raised from private sources. It has been noted that raising enough funds to match the required funding has been historically difficult for program participants. Furthermore, the economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have made fundraising from private sources a nearly impossible task. H.B. 2251 seeks to address this issue by allowing grant recipients to leverage additional funding from local government sources.   

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2251 amends the Government Code to require the Department of State Health Services to give an entity awarded a community collaborative grant the option to leverage additional funding or in-kind contributions from local governmental sources, as an alternative to leveraging the funding or contributions from private sources, in an amount that is at least equal to the grant amount. The bill includes among the required contents of a community collaborative plan developed by the governing body of a county details regarding how entities in the community may leverage funding from local governmental sources to establish or expand those community collaboratives.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.