By McDonald H.B. No. 1906
74R6541 KLL-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of the Health Professions Workforce
1-3 Commission.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 71, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
1-6 Article 4512p-1 to read as follows:
1-7 ARTICLE 4512p-1. HEALTH PROFESSIONS WORKFORCE COMMISSION
1-8 Sec. 1. DEFINITION. In this article, "commission" means the
1-9 Health Professions Workforce Commission.
1-10 Sec. 2. HEALTH PROFESSIONS WORKFORCE COMMISSION. (a) The
1-11 Health Professions Workforce Commission is established.
1-12 (b) The commission shall conduct comprehensive analyses of
1-13 health professions workforce issues and develop strategies to
1-14 direct public and private resources toward established state
1-15 workforce goals.
1-16 Sec. 3. DUTIES. The commission shall:
1-17 (1) assess the supply and distribution of health
1-18 professionals in this state;
1-19 (2) assess current and future shortages of health
1-20 professionals and make recommendations regarding the size,
1-21 specialty mix, demographic composition, and geographic distribution
1-22 of the health professions workforce according to health care needs;
1-23 (3) review graduate medical training needs and
1-24 recommend policies for the establishment or allocation of residency
2-1 positions;
2-2 (4) make recommendations regarding the establishment
2-3 of health professions workforce goals;
2-4 (5) make recommendations with regard to foreign
2-5 medical graduates;
2-6 (6) recommend appropriate efforts to be carried out by
2-7 hospitals, medical schools, residency programs, and regulatory
2-8 agencies;
2-9 (7) review and establish tracking systems of medical
2-10 school graduates for at least 10 years to assess location and
2-11 specialty practice choices;
2-12 (8) review and make recommendations for establishing
2-13 or improving existing data concerning supply and distribution of
2-14 health professionals;
2-15 (9) develop and implement methods of coordination and
2-16 sharing of data between state agencies and medical schools
2-17 receiving state funding; and
2-18 (10) establish policies and adopt rules to implement
2-19 this article.
2-20 Sec. 4. MEMBERSHIP. (a) The commission is composed of:
2-21 (1) two members appointed by the governor;
2-22 (2) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor;
2-23 (3) three members appointed by the Texas Board of
2-24 Health, including one consumer; and
2-25 (4) three members appointed by the Texas Higher
2-26 Education Coordinating Board, including one consumer.
2-27 (b) Members appointed to the commission shall be individuals
3-1 who reside, work, or practice in this state and who have
3-2 demonstrated knowledge and expertise in health professions
3-3 workforce issues in this state.
3-4 (c) Appointments to the commission shall provide for a
3-5 balanced representation of the geographical regions of the state.
3-6 (d) Members of the commission serve staggered six-year
3-7 terms, with the terms of three members expiring August 31 of each
3-8 odd-numbered year.
3-9 (e) Members of the commission shall annually elect one
3-10 member to serve as the presiding officer.
3-11 (f) Members of the commission meet at least quarterly or at
3-12 the call of the presiding officer and shall adopt rules for the
3-13 conduct of the meetings.
3-14 (g) Any actions taken by the commission must be approved by
3-15 a majority vote.
3-16 (h) Members of the commission are not entitled to
3-17 compensation but are entitled to reimbursement of actual and
3-18 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
3-19 Sec. 5. REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. Not later than February 1 of
3-20 each odd-numbered year, the commission shall:
3-21 (1) submit a report to the legislature regarding the
3-22 activities of the commission and the effectiveness of developed
3-23 strategies in meeting the health needs of Texans; and
3-24 (2) recommend health professions workforce
3-25 legislation, rules, and funding to meet identified health care
3-26 needs and problems.
3-27 SECTION 2. Section 58.002(e), Education Code, is amended to
4-1 read as follows:
4-2 (e) It is the intent of this chapter that eventually at
4-3 least 55 <50> percent of all <the first-year> resident physicians
4-4 appointed by medical schools shall be in the primary care areas of
4-5 family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and <geriatrics,>
4-6 obstetrics/gynecology, <and emergency medicine,> with 25 percent of
4-7 those residents in family practice.
4-8 SECTION 3. Initial appointments to the Health Professions
4-9 Workforce Commission established by Article 4512p-1, Revised
4-10 Statutes, as added by this Act, shall be made so that:
4-11 (1) one member appointed by the governor, one member
4-12 appointed by the Texas Board of Health, and one member appointed by
4-13 the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board serve for terms
4-14 expiring August 31, 1997;
4-15 (2) one member appointed by the governor, one member
4-16 appointed by the Texas Board of Health, and one member appointed by
4-17 the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board serve for terms
4-18 expiring August 31, 1999; and
4-19 (3) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor,
4-20 one member appointed by the Texas Board of Health, and one member
4-21 appointed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board serve
4-22 for terms expiring August 31, 2001.
4-23 SECTION 4. 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.