By Coleman H.B. No. 3534
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of dental hygiene.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Article 4543b, Revised Statutes, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Art. 4543b. Sunset Provision. (a) The State Board of
1-7 Dental Examiners and the Dental Hygiene Committee are [is] subject
1-8 to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless
1-9 continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the board and
1-10 the committee are [is] abolished September 1, 2005.
1-11 (b) The provisions of Section 2110.008, government Code, do
1-12 not apply to the Dental Hygiene Committee.
1-13 SECTION 2. Article 4547a, Revised Statutes, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Art. 4547a. Aid to the Board. The Texas State Board of
1-16 Dental Examiners and the Dental Hygiene Committee shall jointly
1-17 have power and authority to appoint such clerks, advisors,
1-18 consultants, hygienists, and/or examiners to aid the board and the
1-19 committee to carry out their [its] duties as they deem [it deems]
1-20 necessary and advisable and may reimburse said persons so appointed
1-21 in such amounts as is reasonable and in conformity with the
2-1 provisions of the general appropriations bill as enacted by the
2-2 Texas Legislature.
2-3 SECTION 3. Sections 4(a), (g), and (i), Article 4550a,
2-4 Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:
2-5 (a) To aid the Board and the Dental Hygiene Committee in
2-6 performing their [its] duties, the Board and the Committee are [is]
2-7 hereby authorized to employ an Executive Director who shall receive
2-8 a salary to be fixed by the Board and the Committee, and who shall
2-9 make and file a surety bond in a sum not less than Five Thousand
2-10 Dollars ($5,000) conditioned for the faithful performance of all
2-11 the duties of the office and the safekeeping and proper
2-12 disbursement of the dental registration account and all other funds
2-13 received by the Executive Director; such salary shall be paid out
2-14 of the dental registration account and shall not be in any way a
2-15 charge upon the general revenue of the State. The Executive
2-16 Director, with the consent of the Board and the Committee, may
2-17 employ an Assistant Executive Director who shall perform all the
2-18 duties required by law to be performed by the Executive Director
2-19 when said Executive Director is absent or unable to act for any
2-20 reason. Said Board and Committee shall jointly employ and provide
2-21 such other employees as may be needed to assist the Executive
2-22 Director in performing the Executive Director's duties and in
2-23 carrying out the purposes of this Act, provided that their
2-24 compensation shall be paid only out of the dental registration
2-25 account. All disbursements from the dental registration account
3-1 shall be made only upon the written approval of the President of
3-2 the Board, Secretary of said Board, Chair of the Committee, or an
3-3 employee designated jointly by the Board and the Committee and upon
3-4 warrants drawn by the Comptroller to be paid out of said account.
3-5 All joint decisions regarding employment or compensation of
3-6 employees shall be by vote of the combined membership of the Board
3-7 and the Committee.
3-8 (g) The Board and the Dental Hygiene Committee shall develop
3-9 and implement policies that clearly define the respective
3-10 responsibilities of the Board, the Committee, and the staff of the
3-11 Board.
3-12 (i) The Board and the Dental Hygiene Committee shall develop
3-13 and implement policies that provide the public with a reasonable
3-14 opportunity to appear before the Board or the Committee and to
3-15 speak on any issue under the jurisdiction of the Board or the
3-16 Committee.
3-17 SECTION 4. Section 4, Chapter 475, Acts of the 52nd
3-18 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4551e, Vernon's Texas
3-19 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 4. Governing Board. The [Texas] State Board of Dental
3-21 Examiners is hereby designated and empowered as the official state
3-22 agency on all matters concerning dental hygienists and the practice
3-23 of dental hygiene, and it shall be the duty of such Board to
3-24 administer and enforce the provisions of this Act. The Board,
3-25 through the Dental Hygiene Committee, shall also adopt[,] and
4-1 promulgate [and enforce] all rules and regulations, including rules
4-2 of professional conduct for dental hygienists, as the Dental
4-3 Hygiene Committee [Board] may deem necessary and advisable and not
4-4 inconsistent with the provisions hereof, but to carry out the
4-5 purposes of this Act and for its enforcement.
4-6 SECTION 5. Section 4A, Chapter 475, Acts of the 52nd
4-7 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4551e, Vernon's Texas
4-8 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
4-9 Sec. 4A. Dental Hygiene [Advisory] Committee. (a) The
4-10 Dental Hygiene [Advisory] Committee is hereby established.
4-11 (b)(1) The Dental Hygiene [Advisory] Committee shall be
4-12 composed of nine [six] members as follows:
4-13 (A) five [three] dental hygienists appointed by
4-14 the governor;
4-15 (B) three [two] public members appointed by the
4-16 governor; and
4-17 (C) one dentist appointed by the governor [State
4-18 Board of Dental Examiners].
4-19 (2) Members of the [advisory] committee shall serve
4-20 staggered six-year terms.
4-21 (3) The [advisory] committee shall elect a chair from
4-22 among its members to serve a term of one year.
4-23 (4) Two of the dental hygienists, the three public
4-24 members and the dentist shall be [No] sitting members [member] of
4-25 the State Board of Dental Examiners [shall be a member of the
5-1 advisory committee].
5-2 (c) The power of [advisory committee shall advise] the State
5-3 Board of Dental Examiners to promulgate and adopt rules on matters
5-4 relating to dental hygiene are vested in and exercised by the
5-5 Dental Hygiene Committee. In order to assure that the [advisory]
5-6 committee is able to exercise properly its [advisory] powers, the
5-7 State Board of Dental Examiners shall provide the [advisory]
5-8 committee with timely notice of all Board meetings and a copy of
5-9 the materials and minutes of all Board meetings. In addition, no
5-10 [the Board shall not adopt any] rule relating to the practice of
5-11 dental hygiene shall be considered adopted unless said [proposed]
5-12 rule was adopted by [has been submitted to] the [advisory]
5-13 committee [for review and comment at least thirty (30) days prior
5-14 to the adoption of said rule].
5-15 (d) A member of the [advisory] committee is entitled to the
5-16 compensatory per diem set by the General Appropriations Act for
5-17 each day that the member engages in committee business. [Except
5-18 for transportation expenses, a member is not entitled to
5-19 reimbursement for travel expenses.] A member is entitled to
5-20 reimbursement for travel [transportation] expenses as provided by
5-21 the General Appropriations Act.
5-22 SECTION 6. (a) The Dental Hygiene Advisory Committee is
5-23 abolished.
5-24 (b) The governor shall make initial appointments to the
5-25 Dental Hygiene Committee not later than November 1, 1999, as
6-1 follows:
6-2 (1) three members for terms expiring in 2001;
6-3 (2) three members for terms expiring in 2003; and
6-4 (3) three members for terms expiring in 2005.
6-5 (c) The governor may make initial appointments to the Dental
6-6 Hygiene Committee from the sitting members of the Dental Hygiene
6-7 Advisory Committee and the State Board of Dental Examiners as of
6-8 August 31, 1999.
6-9 (d) The Dental Hygiene Committee shall hold its first
6-10 meeting not later than January 1, 2000.
6-11 SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-12 (b) A rule adopted by the State Board of Dental Examiners
6-13 relating to the regulation of dental hygiene before the effective
6-14 date of this Act remains in effect until a rule is adopted by the
6-15 Dental Hygiene Committee on the same issue.
6-16 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
6-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.