By:  Zaffirini                                        S.B. No. 1293
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to permits to administer medication to residents of
 1-2     nursing and convalescent homes and certain related institutions.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 242.610, Health and Safety Code, is
 1-5     amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (g) to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (e)  Except as provided by Subsection (g), a [A] permit is
 1-8     valid for one year and is not transferable.
 1-9           (g)  The department may shorten the term of a permit to
1-10     provide for the staggered renewal of permits.  If a permit is
1-11     issued for a term that is less than one year, the fee assessed
1-12     under Section 242.611 must be prorated appropriately.
1-13           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-18     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-19     passage, and it is so enacted.