MMA S.B. 1241 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS HIGHER EDUCATION S.B. 1241 By: Zaffirini (Cuellar) 5-8-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND The state's capacity for training more primary care doctors may be dependant on the availability of quality primary care faculty at medical schools in the state. There are concerns that compensation levels for primary care faculty positions in Texas medical schools are too low to compete successfully with financial opportunities offered by the private sector and other medical schools. With the intent of attracting quality faculty, S.B. 1241 would create the Faculty Enhancement Fund for Generalist Physicians through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to provide enhanced funding for primary care physician faculty positions at medical schools in the state. PURPOSE S.B. 1241 creates the Faculty Enhancement Fund for Generalist Physicians to provide faculty enhancement awards for generalist faculty positions at Texas medical schools. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 58.007, Chapter 58, Education Code, by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows: (h) Requires the Primary Care Residency Advisory Committee (committee) to review for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) applications for approval and funding of faculty enhancement for generalist physicians at Texas medical schools as described in Section 58.009, make recommendations to THECB relating to the standards and criteria for approval of faculty enhancement awards, monitor compliance with the contractual conditions associated with faculty enhancement awards, and evaluate the success of the faculty enhancement program in reaching the goal of increasing the number of generalist physician faculty at Texas medical schools. SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 58, Education Code, by adding Section 58.009 to read as follows: Sec. 58.009. FACULTY ENHANCEMENT FUND FOR GENERALIST PHYSICIANS. (a) Requires that only accredited medical schools as defined in Section 61.501(1) are eligible to receive funds under this section. (b) Requires that eligible individuals, in order to receive these funds, be in full-time clinical faculty positions in family practice, general internal medicine and general pediatrics, at a faculty rank no greater than assistant professor. (c) Requires the committee to recommend to THECB an allocation of generalist faculty positions that are to receive state support through the Faculty Enhancement Fund. Requires the committee to take into consideration the following factors when recommending an allocation: (1) the faculty-student ratio in the generalist specialty at that school; (2) the length of time a budgeted generalist faculty position has gone unfilled; (3) whether the position is a new one; and (4) other factors as determined by the committee. (d) Requires THECB, once funds are awarded, to support an award made to a particular medical school for a total of two academic years. Provides that after that time, the medical school will provide the yearly faculty enhancement award from its operating budget to maintain the level of compensation for the position. (e) Prohibits THECB from spending more than 10 percent of the amounts appropriated for this program in fiscal year 1998, and not more than 5 percent of the amounts appropriated for this program in succeeding years for administering the Faculty Enhancement Program for Generalist Physicians. (f) Authorizes THECB to solicit, receive, and spend grants, gifts, and donations from public and private sources to comply with this section. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.