76R13678 DLF-D
By Moncrief S.B. No. 1197
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1197:
By Noriega C.S.S.B. No. 1197
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the appointment of a trustee and the expenditure of
1-3 emergency assistance funds for a nursing or convalescent home;
1-4 providing penalties.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
1-7 Code, is amended by adding Sections 242.0945 and 242.0946 to read
1-8 as follows:
1-9 Sec. 242.0945. QUALIFICATIONS OF TRUSTEES. (a) A court may
1-10 appoint a person to serve as a trustee under this subchapter only
1-11 if the proposed trustee can demonstrate to the court that the
1-12 proposed trustee will be:
1-13 (1) present at the home as required to perform the
1-14 duties of a trustee; and
1-15 (2) available on call to appropropiate staff at the
1-16 home, the department, and the court as necessary during the time
1-17 the trustee is not present at the home.
1-18 (b) A trustee shall report to the court in the event that
1-19 the trustee is unable to satisfy the requirements of Subsection
1-20 (a)(1) or (2).
1-21 (c) On the motion of any party or on the court's own motion,
1-22 the court may replace a trustee who is unable to satisfy the
1-23 requirements of Subsection (a)(1) or (2).
1-24 (d) A trustee's charges must separately identify personal
2-1 hours worked for which compensation is claimed. A trustee's claim
2-2 for personal compensation may include only compensation for
2-3 activities related to the trusteeship and performed in or on behalf
2-4 of the home.
2-5 Sec. 242.0946. NEPOTISM PROHIBITION. A person serving as a
2-6 trustee under this subchapter may not employ or otherwise appoint
2-7 an individual to work with the trustee in the home who is related
2-8 to the trustee within the third degree of consanguinity or
2-9 affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code.
2-10 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 242.095, Health and
2-11 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-12 (a) A trustee appointed under this subchapter is entitled to
2-13 a reasonable fee as determined by the court. In determining the
2-14 trustee's personal compensation for nursing facility administrator
2-15 activites, the court shall consider reasonable a rate that is equal
2-16 to 150 percent of the maximum allowable rate for an
2-17 owner-administrator under the state's Medicaid reimbursement rules.
2-18 The court shall determine the reasonableness of the trustee's
2-19 personal compensation for other duties. On the motion of any
2-20 party, the court shall review the reasonableness of the trustee's
2-21 fees. The court shall reduce the amount if the court determines
2-22 that the fees are not reasonable.
2-23 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
2-24 Code, is amended by adding Section 242.102 to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 242.102. INELIGIBILITY FOR LICENSE. (a) A license
2-26 holder or controlling person who operates a home for which a
2-27 trustee is appointed under this subchapter and with respect to
3-1 which emergency assistance funds, other than funds used to pay the
3-2 expenses of the trustee, are used under this subchapter is subject
3-3 to exclusion from eligibility for:
3-4 (1) issuance of an original license for a home for
3-5 which the person has not previously held a license; or
3-6 (2) renewal of the license for the home for which the
3-7 trustee is appointed.
3-8 (b) Exclusion under this section is governed by Section
3-9 242.0615.
3-10 SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended
3-11 by adding Section 12.48 to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 12.48. CERTAIN OFFENSES RESULTING IN LOSS TO NURSING
3-13 AND CONVALESCENT HOMES. If it is shown on the trial of an offense
3-14 under Chapter 31 or 32 that, as a result of a loss incurred because
3-15 of the conduct charged, a trustee was appointed and emergency
3-16 assistance funds, other than funds used to pay the expenses of the
3-17 trustee, were used for a nursing or convalescent home under
3-18 Subchapter D, Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, the punishment
3-19 for the offense is increased to the punishment prescribed for the
3-20 next higher category of offense except that a felony of the first
3-21 degree is punished as a felony of the first degree.
3-22 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-23 SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-24 only to the punishment for an offense committed on or after the
3-25 effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an
3-26 offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
3-27 element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
4-1 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
4-2 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
4-3 and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
4-4 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.