By: Madla S.B. No. 983 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to a branch office of a home health or personal assistance 1-2 services agency. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. After consulting with the Texas Department of 1-5 Health, the Texas Department of Human Services, and providers and 1-6 consumers of home health and personal assistance services, the 1-7 commissioner of health and human services shall contact the federal 1-8 Health Care Financing Administration to request that the Health 1-9 Care Financing Administration adopt rules that: 1-10 (1) allow a home and community support services agency 1-11 to use modern methods of communication in the supervision of the 1-12 agency's branch offices, including the telephone, fax machines, 1-13 pagers, and electronic mail; and 1-14 (2) eliminate the driving distance requirements for a 1-15 branch office of a home and community support services agency or 1-16 allow the state to set its own driving distance requirements. 1-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 1-18 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 1-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 1-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 1-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 1-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 1-23 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 1-24 Amend SB. No. 983, lines 15 and 16 on page 1, by deleting the 2-1 words "or allow the state to set its own driving distance 2-2 requirements" after the word "agency" 2-3 Capelo