89R1065 MPF-D

By: Bell of Kaufman H.B. No. 467

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the procedure for the dissolution of the Cedar Creek Hospital District and the disposition of district money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 22, Chapter 22, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22. Except as provided by Sections [Section] 21A(c) and 21C(c), any election held under this Act shall be in accordance with the Texas Election Code as it presently exists, and is hereafter amended and any final court decision or decisions construing such election code.

SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973, is amended by adding Section 21C to read as follows:

Sec. 21C. (a) The district may be dissolved as provided by this section only if:

(1) the district is not providing or paying for the provision of medical or hospital care;

(2) all positions on the board of directors of the district are vacant;

(3) the district has no outstanding indebtedness; and

(4) the only remaining asset of the district is money.

(b) The county judges of Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties may jointly agree to order an election on the question of dissolving the district and using any remaining district money to establish and administer the scholarship described by Subsection (g) of this section.

(c) Section 41.001(a), Election Code, does not apply to an election held under this section.

(d) The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition: "The dissolution of the Cedar Creek Hospital District and the use of district money to establish and administer the Andrew Gibbs Memorial Nursing Scholarship."

(e) If a majority of the votes cast in the election do not favor the proposition, the county judges of Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties may not take any additional action under this section.

(f) If a majority of the votes cast in the election favor the proposition:

(1) the county judges of Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties shall:

(A) find that the district is dissolved; and

(B) transfer the district money in equal shares to Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties for the purpose of establishing and administering the Andrew Gibbs Memorial Nursing Scholarship in accordance with Subsection (g) of this section; and

(2) not later than the 10th day after the date the commissioners courts of Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties determine that the requirements of Subdivision (1) of this subsection have been met, the commissioners courts of the counties shall enter orders dissolving the district.

(g) The county judges of Kaufman, Van Zandt, and Henderson Counties shall use the money transferred under Subsection (f) of this section to jointly establish and administer the Andrew Gibbs Memorial Nursing Scholarship. The counties shall jointly establish an oversight committee to administer the scholarship. The oversight committee may establish eligibility criteria and procedures for the application and selection process, provided that the eligibility criteria must require an individual receiving a scholarship to:

(1) reside in the boundaries of the district, as those boundaries existed on the date of the election described by Subsection (b) of this section, at the time the individual is accepted for admission to a nursing education program at an institution of higher education in this state; and

(2) be currently enrolled in, or have been accepted for admission to, a nursing education program described by Subdivision (1) of this subsection.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.