By Ellis, et al. S.B. No. 938
75R5742 SAW-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to expanded hours of operation under the Supplemental Food
1-3 Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 32.021, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 32.021. REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE WOMEN, INFANTS AND
1-8 CHILDREN PROGRAM. (a) An [The department shall require that any]
1-9 agency, [clinic,] organization, or other entity that contracts with
1-10 the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children shall
1-11 each month provide the services supported by that program during
1-12 extended hours, as defined by the department [the evening hours or
1-13 on Saturdays as provided by Subsection (b)].
1-14 (b) Each agency, organization, or other entity that
1-15 contracts with the program shall include in its plan submitted to
1-16 the department a plan to expand client access to services through
1-17 extended hours, the schedule for each site that provides services,
1-18 and the reasons for each site's schedule. An agency, organization,
1-19 or other entity that contracts with the program is not required to
1-20 offer extended hours at each of its service sites. [If the entity
1-21 described in Subsection (a) operates:]
1-22 [(1) 32 or more hours each week, then the clinic shall
1-23 be open at least one weekday evening for a minimum of two hours in
1-24 excess of normal working hours or on Saturdays for a minimum of
2-1 three hours;]
2-2 [(2) only selected hours within a week during two or
2-3 more days a month, then for each month the clinic shall be open at
2-4 least one weekday evening for a minimum of two hours in excess of
2-5 normal working hours or on a Saturday for a minimum of three hours;
2-6 or]
2-7 [(3) only on one day a month or less frequently, then
2-8 in one month out of every three the clinic shall be open at least
2-9 one weekday evening for a minimum of two hours in excess of normal
2-10 working hours or on a Saturday for a minimum of three hours.]
2-11 (c) The department[, in administering the Supplemental Food
2-12 Program for Women, Infants and Children,] shall adopt guidelines
2-13 for extended hours and the [granting of] waivers from the
2-14 requirement of Subsection (a).
2-15 (d) To obtain a waiver, an agency, organization, or other
2-16 entity [a clinic] shall submit a written justification to the
2-17 department explaining the extraordinary circumstances involved and
2-18 identifying the time frame needed for their resolution.
2-19 (e) The department may not grant a waiver to an agency,
2-20 organization, or other entity for a period of more than two years.
2-21 (f) If an agency, organization, or other entity required by
2-22 this section to maintain extended hours provides other maternal and
2-23 child health services, [the department shall require] that [the]
2-24 entity shall also make those services available during the extended
2-25 hours.
2-26 SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 1998, the Texas
2-27 Department of Health shall adopt guidelines for extended hours and
3-1 waivers, as required by Section 32.021, Health and Safety Code, as
3-2 amended by this Act.
3-3 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
3-4 applies to the provision on or after January 1, 1998, of services
3-5 under the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and
3-6 Children. The provision before January 1, 1998, of services under
3-7 the program is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
3-8 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
3-9 for that purpose.
3-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.