1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the sale or lease of a certain facility owned and
1-3 operated by the Lubbock County Hospital District; providing a
1-4 penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 10, Chapter 484, Acts of the 60th
1-7 Legislature, Regular Session, 1967, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 10. CUMULATIVE POWERS. Subject to Section 10A of this
1-9 Act, the [The] board of managers, with the approval of the
1-10 commissioners court, shall have the power:
1-11 (a) To construct, condemn and purchase, purchase and
1-12 acquire, lease, add to, maintain, operate, develop and regulate,
1-13 sell, exchange and convey any and all lands, property, property
1-14 rights, equipment, hospital facilities and systems for the
1-15 maintenance of hospitals, buildings, structures, and any and all
1-16 other facilities and services the hospital district may require or
1-17 may have available to sell, lease or exchange;
1-18 (b) To further effectuate such powers, the board of
1-19 managers, with the approval of the commissioners court, may
1-20 cooperate and contract with the United States government, the State
1-21 of Texas, any municipality or other hospital district, or any
1-22 department of those governing bodies, or with any privately owned
1-23 or operated hospital, corporate or otherwise, which privately owned
1-24 or operated hospital is situated in the hospital district;
2-1 provided, in the opinion of the board of managers and of the
2-2 commissioners court, such a contract is deemed expedient and
2-3 advantageous to the hospital district under existing circumstances,
2-4 and be for such fair and reasonable compensation and on such other
2-5 terms and for such length of time as may be deemed to further and
2-6 assist the hospital district in performing its duty to provide
2-7 medical and hospital care to needy inhabitants of the county;
2-8 (c) To provide office space, equipment, supplies, and
2-9 services for the use of the county medical examiner's office for
2-10 medical, hospital, and other non-criminal-investigation-related
2-11 purposes.
2-12 SECTION 2. Chapter 484, Acts of the 60th Legislature,
2-13 Regular Session, 1967, is amended by adding Section 10A to read as
2-14 follows:
2-15 Sec. 10A. SALE OR LEASE OF CERTAIN FACILITY; ELECTION;
2-16 DISCLOSURE. (a) In this section:
2-17 (1) "Hospital official" means the following officers
2-18 or employees, or their equivalent, of the teaching hospital
2-19 described by Subsection (b) of this section:
2-20 (A) the executive director;
2-21 (B) the president;
2-22 (C) the chief executive officer;
2-23 (D) the chief operating officer;
2-24 (E) the chief financial officer;
2-25 (F) any vice president; and
2-26 (G) any other officer.
2-27 (2) "Substantial interest" has the meaning assigned by
3-1 Section 171.002, Local Government Code.
3-2 (b) The board of managers by resolution, and with the
3-3 approval of the commissioners court, may order the sale or lease of
3-4 a facility owned and operated by the hospital district as a
3-5 teaching hospital that is located on the campus of Texas Tech
3-6 University, contingent on certain disclosure requirements under
3-7 this section and voter approval at an election called and held for
3-8 that purpose. The resolution must include a finding by the board
3-9 of managers that the sale or lease is in the best interests of the
3-10 residents of the hospital district and that no hospital official
3-11 will benefit financially from the sale or lease, other than from
3-12 the continuation of a compensation package existing before the date
3-13 of the sale or lease. As soon as possible after the board of
3-14 managers adopts the resolution, the Commissioners Court of Lubbock
3-15 County shall order an election on the question of selling or
3-16 leasing the facility.
3-17 (c) An election ordered under Subsection (b) of this section
3-18 shall be held on the first authorized uniform election date
3-19 prescribed by Subchapter A, Chapter 41, Election Code, that occurs
3-20 after the 45th day after the date the election is ordered.
3-21 (d) The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit
3-22 voting for or against the proposition: "Approving the ______ (sale
3-23 or lease, as appropriate) of _________ (insert the name of the
3-24 facility)."
3-25 (e) The chairman of the board of managers shall disclose,
3-26 not later than the 30th day before the date of an election held
3-27 under this section, the terms of the proposed sale or lease of a
4-1 facility described by Subsection (b) of this section. The
4-2 disclosure must include both oral and written agreements relating
4-3 to the sale or lease.
4-4 (f) A member of the board of managers or a hospital official
4-5 shall disclose, not later than the 30th day before the date of an
4-6 election held under this section, any financial interest that the
4-7 person has in the sale or lease of a facility described by
4-8 Subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this subsection, a
4-9 person has a financial interest in the sale or lease if the person:
4-10 (1) has a substantial interest in a business entity
4-11 involved in the sale or lease;
4-12 (2) is related within the second degree by
4-13 consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
4-14 Government Code, to a person who has a substantial interest in a
4-15 business entity involved in the sale or lease; or
4-16 (3) is a hospital official who will benefit
4-17 financially from the sale or lease, other than from the
4-18 continuation of a compensation package existing before the date of
4-19 the sale or lease.
4-20 (g) A person shall make a disclosure required under
4-21 Subsection (e) or (f) of this section by filing the disclosure with
4-22 the Commissioners Court of Lubbock County and the board of
4-23 managers. A disclosure of information filed under this section is
4-24 a public record.
4-25 (h) A person required to make a disclosure under Subsection
4-26 (f) of this section commits an offense if the person knowingly
4-27 fails to make the disclosure within the period prescribed by that
5-1 subsection. An offense under this subsection is a Class A
5-2 misdemeanor.
5-3 (i) The Commissioners Court of Lubbock County shall cancel
5-4 an election ordered under this section if a hospital official makes
5-5 a disclosure of a financial interest in the sale or lease of a
5-6 facility under Subsections (f) and (g) of this section at any time
5-7 before the date of the election.
5-8 (j) The board of managers may sell or lease the facility
5-9 only if:
5-10 (1) a hospital official has not made a disclosure
5-11 under Subsections (f) and (g) of this section at any time before
5-12 the date of the sale or lease; and
5-13 (2) a majority of the votes cast at an election held
5-14 under this section approves the sale or lease.
5-15 (k) A disclosure under this section that is made after the
5-16 date on which the sale or lease of the facility occurs does not
5-17 invalidate the sale or lease.
5-18 (l) If a majority of the votes cast at the election do not
5-19 approve the sale or lease of the facility, another election to
5-20 approve the sale or lease, as appropriate, may not be held before
5-21 the first anniversary of the most recent election on the
5-22 proposition.
5-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-2 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 962 was passed by the House on April
8, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 962 on May 26, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 962 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor