BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2553 By: Madden 4-25-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The Texas Department of Health, in accordance with legislation enacted last session, has begun to inspect, regulate and require permitting of bed and breakfasts as food service establishments and enforcing attendance at education and training courses for persons engaging in food preparation/handling. It is seldom that a meal other than breakfast is provided to guests which stay at a bed and breakfast establishment (hence, their name), and the numbers of people served often approximates the number gathered at a family meal for a holiday or other special occasions. When a sizeable crowd is served, or guests are provided multiple opportunities to eat, those who engage in these larger-scale and/or more continuous operations should be subject to provisions of the retail food inspection and permitting program and rules on food service sanitation. PURPOSE H.B. 2553 exempts from the Retail Food Inspection Program and the Rules on Food Service Sanitation any bed and breakfast establishment with five or fewer rooms for rent. However, no bed and breakfast food preparer/handler is waived from education and training programs for persons employed in the food service industry. Any bed and breakfast with more than five rooms for rent is categorized as a food service establishment, but may not have to meet the more rigid criteria imposed on restaurants and similar facilities if it does not function like one. Any bed and breakfast establishment of any size that hosts receptions or provides catering services is considered a food service establishment and comes under the rules and regulations that apply to any and all food service establishments. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY The board, commissioner's court, governing body, or administrative board, as applicable, may establish minimum standards for bed and breakfast establishments as stipulated in Section 437.019(b). SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1: Amends Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, by adding Section 437.019, EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN BED AND BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENTS. (a) States that a bed and breakfast establishment with seven or fewer rooms for rent that serves only breakfast to its overnight guests, is not a food service establishment for purposes of Chapter 437. An owner or manager of a bed and breakfast shall successfully complete a food manager's certification course accredited by the department. (b) A bed and breakfast establishment with more than seven rooms for rent or provides food service other than breakfast to its overnight guests, may not be required to meet all criteria applicable to larger food service establishments such as a restaurant. The board, commissioners court, governing body, or administrative board, shall adopt minimum standards for a bed and breakfast establishment covered by this subsection. (c) A bed and breakfast establishment that provides service to overnight guests, of any size, is a food service establishment for purposes of Chapter 437, and is subject to all rules and regulations applicable to a food service establishment. SECTION 2: Effective date and emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The major differences between H.B. 2553, as introduced, and the committee substitute are: SECTION 1. (a) The committee substitute changes the room number requirement from 5 (five) to 7 (seven). The substitute emphasizes also that a bed and breakfast that only serves breakfast to overnight guest, is not a food service establishment. This subsection also adds that an owner or manager of a bed and breakfast must successfully complete a food manager's certification course accredited by the department. (b) The committee substitute changes the room number requirement from 5 (five) to 7 (seven). The substitute also adds that a bed and breakfast that provides food service other than breakfast to its overnight guests, is a food service establishment. (c) The substitute provides that a bed and breakfast establishment that provides food services other than to overnight guests is a food service under this chapter. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION The Business and Industry Committee considered H.B. 2553 in a public hearing on April 25, 1995. The following witnesses testified in favor of H.B. 2553: Kay C. Jackson, representing Austin's Wildflower Inn; Sandra Villalaz-Dickson, representing Woodburn House Bed and Breakfast; Don Hansen, representing Texas Hotel and Motel Association. The following witness testified on H.B. 2553: Steve McAndrew, representing Texas Department of Health. The committee considered a complete committee substitute for the bill. 1 (one) amendment was offered to the substitute. The 1 (one) amendment was adopted without objection. The committee substitute, as amended, was adopted without objection. The chair directed the staff to incorporate the amendment into the substitute. H.B. 2553, as substituted, was reported favorably with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed and be sent to the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars, by a record vote of 7 (seven) ayes, 0 (zero) nays, 0 (zero) present-not-voting, 2 (two) absent.