By: Moncrief S.B. No. 1197
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the appointment of a trustee and the expenditure of
1-2 emergency assistance funds for a nursing or convalescent home;
1-3 providing penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
1-6 Code, is amended by adding Sections 242.0945 and 242.0946 to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 Sec. 242.0945. QUALIFICATIONS OF TRUSTEES. (a) A court may
1-9 appoint a person to serve as a trustee under this subchapter only
1-10 if the proposed trustee can demonstrate to the court that the
1-11 proposed trustee will be:
1-12 (1) present at the home at least 40 hours each week;
1-13 and
1-14 (2) available on call at all other times during the
1-15 appointment.
1-16 (b) A court shall require a trustee to report to the court
1-17 in the event that the trustee is unable to satisfy the requirements
1-18 of Subsection (a)(1) or (2).
1-19 (c) On the motion of any party or on the court's own motion,
1-20 the court shall replace a trustee who is unable to satisfy the
1-21 requirements of Subsection (a)(1) or (2).
1-22 Sec. 242.0946. NEPOTISM PROHIBITION. A person serving as a
1-23 trustee under this subchapter may not employ or otherwise appoint
1-24 an individual to work with the trustee in the home who is related
2-1 to the trustee within the third degree of consanguinity or
2-2 affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code.
2-3 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 242.095, Health and
2-4 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-5 (a) A trustee appointed under this subchapter is entitled to
2-6 a reasonable fee as determined by the court. The fee may not
2-7 exceed an hourly rate equal to 150 percent of the median hourly
2-8 rate paid to a nursing facility administrator in this state for a
2-9 home of a comparable size.
2-10 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
2-11 Code, is amended by adding Section 242.102 to read as follows:
2-12 Sec. 242.102. INELIGIBILITY FOR LICENSE. (a) A person who
2-13 owns, controls, or operates a home for which a trustee is appointed
2-14 under this subchapter and with respect to which emergency
2-15 assistance funds, other than funds used to pay the expenses of the
2-16 trustee, are used under this subchapter is subject to exclusion
2-17 from eligibility for:
2-18 (1) issuance of an original license for a home for
2-19 which the person has not previously held a license; or
2-20 (2) renewal of the license for the home for which the
2-21 trustee is appointed.
2-22 (b) Exclusion under this section is governed by Section
2-23 242.0615.
2-24 (c) For purposes of this section, a person "controls" a home
2-25 if the person is any person described by Sections
2-26 242.032(d)(2)-(4).
3-1 SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended
3-2 by adding Section 12.48 to read as follows:
3-3 Sec. 12.48. CERTAIN OFFENSES RESULTING IN LOSS TO NURSING
3-4 AND CONVALESCENT HOMES. If it is shown on the trial of an offense
3-5 under Chapter 31 or 32 that, as a result of a loss incurred because
3-6 of the conduct charged, a trustee was appointed or emergency
3-7 assistance funds were used for a nursing or convalescent home under
3-8 Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, the punishment
3-9 for the offense is increased to the punishment prescribed for the
3-10 next higher category of offense except that a felony of the first
3-11 degree is punished as a felony of the first degree.
3-12 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-13 SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-14 only to the punishment for an offense committed on or after the
3-15 effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an
3-16 offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
3-17 element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
3-18 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-19 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-20 and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
3-21 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.