By Luna H.B. No. 1819
74R3282 DLF-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to approval of alcohol and drug abuse driving awareness
1-3 programs for personal automobile insurance discounts.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 461.012(a), Health and Safety Code, as
1-6 amended by Section 1, Chapter 637, Acts of the 73rd Legislature,
1-7 1993, and Section 4, Chapter 671, Acts of the 73rd Legislature,
1-8 1993, is amended to read as follows:
1-9 (a) The commission shall:
1-10 (1) provide for research and study of the problems of
1-11 chemical dependency in this state and seek to focus public
1-12 attention on those problems through public information and
1-13 education programs;
1-14 (2) plan, develop, coordinate, evaluate, and implement
1-15 constructive methods and programs for the prevention, intervention,
1-16 treatment, and rehabilitation of chemical dependency in cooperation
1-17 with federal and state agencies, local governments, organizations,
1-18 and persons, and provide technical assistance, funds, and
1-19 consultation services for statewide and community-based services;
1-20 (3) cooperate with and enlist the assistance of:
1-21 (A) other state, federal, and local agencies;
1-22 (B) hospitals and clinics;
1-23 (C) public health, welfare, and criminal justice
1-24 system authorities;
2-1 (D) educational and medical agencies and
2-2 organizations; and
2-3 (E) other related public and private groups and
2-4 persons;
2-5 (4) expand chemical dependency services for children
2-6 when funds are available because of the long-term benefits of those
2-7 services to the state and its citizens;
2-8 (5) sponsor, promote, and conduct educational programs
2-9 on the prevention and treatment of chemical dependency, and
2-10 maintain a public information clearinghouse to purchase and provide
2-11 books, literature, audiovisuals, and other educational material for
2-12 the programs;
2-13 (6) sponsor, promote, and conduct training programs
2-14 for persons delivering prevention, intervention, treatment, and
2-15 rehabilitation services and for persons in the criminal justice
2-16 system or otherwise in a position to identify chemically dependent
2-17 persons and their families in need of service;
2-18 (7) require programs rendering services to chemically
2-19 dependent persons to safeguard those persons' legal rights of
2-20 citizenship and maintain the confidentiality of client records as
2-21 required by state and federal law;
2-22 (8) maximize the use of available funds for direct
2-23 services rather than administrative services;
2-24 (9) consistently monitor the expenditure of funds and
2-25 the provision of services by all grant and contract recipients to
2-26 assure that the services are effective and properly staffed and
2-27 meet the standards adopted under this chapter;
3-1 (10) make the monitoring reports prepared under
3-2 Subdivision (9) a matter of public record;
3-3 (11) license treatment facilities under Chapter 464;
3-4 (12) use funds appropriated to the commission to carry
3-5 out this chapter and maximize the overall state allotment of
3-6 federal funds;
3-7 (13) develop and implement policies that will provide
3-8 the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the
3-9 commission and to speak on any issue under the commission's
3-10 jurisdiction;
3-11 (14) establish minimum criteria that peer assistance
3-12 programs must meet to be governed by and entitled to the benefits
3-13 of a law that authorizes licensing and disciplinary authorities to
3-14 establish or approve peer assistance programs for impaired
3-15 professionals;
3-16 (15) adopt rules governing the functions of the
3-17 commission, including rules that prescribe the policies and
3-18 procedures followed by the commission in administering any
3-19 commission programs; <and>
3-20 (16) plan, develop, coordinate, evaluate, and
3-21 implement constructive methods and programs to provide healthy
3-22 alternatives for youth at risk of selling controlled substances;<.>
3-23 (17) <(16)> submit to the federal government reports
3-24 and strategies necessary to comply with Section 1926 of the federal
3-25 Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration
3-26 Reorganization Act, Pub. L. 102-321 (42 U.S.C. Section 300x-26);
3-27 reports and strategies are to be coordinated with appropriate state
4-1 governmental entities; and
4-2 (18) approve alcohol and drug abuse driving awareness
4-3 programs as required by Section 461.0134.
4-4 SECTION 2. Chapter 461, Health and Safety Code, is amended
4-5 by adding Section 461.0134 to read as follows:
4-6 Sec. 461.0134. ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE DRIVING AWARENESS
4-7 PROGRAMS. (a) The commission must approve any alcohol and drug
4-8 abuse driving awareness program designed to allow individuals to
4-9 become eligible for a premium discount for personal automobile
4-10 insurance.
4-11 (b) The commission shall:
4-12 (1) adopt rules governing the qualification, approval,
4-13 and renewal of alcohol and drug abuse driving awareness programs
4-14 and the providers of the programs; and
4-15 (2) monitor, coordinate, and provide training to
4-16 individuals presenting the programs.
4-17 (c) The commission may charge a nonrefundable application
4-18 fee for approval or renewal of approval of a program.
4-19 (d) This section applies only if the commissioner of
4-20 insurance adopts rules requiring personal automobile insurance
4-21 premium discounts for individuals who have completed alcohol and
4-22 drug abuse driving awareness programs.
4-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-2 passage, and it is so enacted.