77R12544 CBH-F
By Gray, Eiland, et al. H.B. No. 2456
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2456:
By Craddick C.S.H.B. No. 2456
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of certain counties to implement a pilot
1-3 program to provide certain indigent health care services and to the
1-4 funding of the program.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 324, Tax Code, is amended by
1-7 adding Section 324.002 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 324.002. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS TO CERTAIN
1-9 COUNTIES. Sections 324.021, 324.022, 324.061, and 324.081 do not
1-10 apply to a county that implements an indigent health care pilot
1-11 program and adopts a sales and use tax under Subchapter E.
1-12 SECTION 2. Chapter 324, Tax Code, is amended by adding
1-13 Subchapter E to read as follows:
1-14 SUBCHAPTER E. INDIGENT HEALTH CARE PILOT PROGRAM
1-15 Sec. 324.101. APPLICATION. This subchapter applies only to a
1-16 county:
1-17 (1) with a population of more than 200,000;
1-18 (2) in which a hospital district is not located; and
1-19 (3) in which a public medical school or health science
1-20 center is located.
1-21 Sec. 324.102. PILOT PROGRAM FOR INDIGENT HEALTH CARE. (a)
1-22 The commissioners court of a county may implement a pilot program
1-23 in the county to provide:
1-24 (1) secondary and tertiary level services for
2-1 residents of the county whose family income is not greater than 100
2-2 percent of the federal poverty level; and
2-3 (2) primary level services for residents of the county
2-4 whose family income is not greater than 200 percent of the federal
2-5 poverty level.
2-6 (b) The services the county provides must include:
2-7 (1) primary and preventive medical services a county
2-8 is required or authorized to provide under Chapter 61, Health and
2-9 Safety Code; and
2-10 (2) secondary or tertiary services the state provides
2-11 as part of the medical assistance program under Chapter 32, Human
2-12 Resources Code.
2-13 (c) As part of the pilot program, the county may provide for
2-14 case management services, utilization review, patient outreach
2-15 services, patient education, and patient transportation.
2-16 (d) The county shall prescribe appropriate goals and
2-17 performance measures for the program.
2-18 (e) The county may implement the pilot program only if:
2-19 (1) the voters of the county approve imposition of a
2-20 sales and use tax under Section 324.103; or
2-21 (2) funding for the program is available under Section
2-22 324.107.
2-23 Sec. 324.103. SALES AND USE TAX. (a) A county may adopt or
2-24 abolish a sales and use tax authorized by this subchapter to
2-25 provide funding for an indigent health care pilot program if
2-26 imposition of the tax is approved at an election called and held
2-27 for that purpose as provided by Section 324.104.
3-1 (b) The tax authorized by this subchapter may be imposed in
3-2 increments of one-eighth of one percent, with a minimum tax rate of
3-3 one-eighth of one percent and a maximum tax rate of one percent.
3-4 (c) Sections 323.101(b), (d), and (e) do not apply to the
3-5 tax imposed under this subchapter.
3-6 Sec. 324.104. ELECTION PROCEDURE. (a) The commissioners
3-7 court of the county may call an election to adopt or abolish the
3-8 tax under this subchapter. The commissioners court shall call an
3-9 election to adopt or abolish the tax if it receives a petition
3-10 signed by a number of petitioners equal to at least five percent of
3-11 the number of registered voters in the county.
3-12 (b) At the election to adopt the tax, the ballot shall be
3-13 prepared to permit voting for or against the proposition: "The
3-14 adoption of a local sales and use tax in (name of county) at the
3-15 rate of ______ (insert rate) to provide revenue for an indigent
3-16 health care pilot program."
3-17 (c) At the election to abolish the tax, the ballot shall be
3-18 prepared to permit voting for or against the proposition: "The
3-19 abolishment of the local indigent health care pilot program sales
3-20 and use tax in (name of county)."
3-21 Sec. 324.105. REAUTHORIZATION OF PILOT PROGRAM AND TAX. (a)
3-22 Unless the imposition of the sales and use tax authorized by this
3-23 subchapter is reauthorized as provided by this section, the tax and
3-24 the pilot program expire on the sixth anniversary of the date the
3-25 tax originally took effect.
3-26 (b) An election to reauthorize the tax is called and held in
3-27 the same manner as an election to adopt the tax under Section
4-1 324.104, except the ballot proposition shall be prepared to permit
4-2 voting for or against the proposition: "The reauthorization of the
4-3 local sales and use tax in (name of county) at the rate of ______
4-4 (insert rate) to continue providing revenue for indigent health
4-5 care."
4-6 (c) If an election to reauthorize the tax is not held before
4-7 the tax expires as provided by Subsection (a), or if a majority of
4-8 the votes cast in an election to reauthorize the tax do not favor
4-9 reauthorization, the county may not call an election on the
4-10 question of authorizing a new tax under this subchapter before the
4-11 first anniversary of the date on which the tax expired.
4-12 (d) Not later than the 10th day after the date the county
4-13 determines that the tax will expire as provided by Subsection (a),
4-14 the county shall notify the comptroller of the scheduled
4-15 expiration. The comptroller may delay the scheduled expiration date
4-16 if the comptroller notifies the county that more time is required.
4-17 The comptroller must provide a new expiration date that is not
4-18 later than the last day of the first calendar quarter occurring
4-19 after the notification to the comptroller.
4-20 Sec. 324.106. EFFECT OF STATE TAX RATE INCREASE.
4-21 Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, if the rate
4-22 of the state sales and use tax imposed under Chapter 151 is
4-23 increased over the rate of the tax on January 1, 2001, the rate of
4-24 a tax imposed under this subchapter is automatically decreased on
4-25 the date the state rate increase takes effect to the highest rate
4-26 that will not result in a tax rate of more than 7-1/4 percent when
4-27 the state sales and use tax and a tax imposed under this subchapter
5-1 are combined.
5-2 Sec. 324.107. SUSPENSION OF TAX UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
5-3 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, a
5-4 county shall suspend collection of the tax imposed under this
5-5 subchapter during any state fiscal year for which the state
5-6 legislature appropriates at least $6 million to fund the indigent
5-7 health care pilot program in that county.
5-8 (b) The county shall notify the comptroller if the tax will
5-9 be suspended under this section. The suspension takes effect on
5-10 the first day of the fiscal year for which the legislature
5-11 appropriates money and ends on the last day of that fiscal year.
5-12 Sec. 324.108. STATE AUDITOR REVIEW. The state auditor shall
5-13 review a pilot program created under this subchapter and report the
5-14 auditor's findings to the legislature.
5-15 Sec. 324.109. USE OF TAX REVENUE. Revenue from the tax
5-16 imposed under this subchapter may be used only to provide funding
5-17 for an indigent health care pilot program created by the county as
5-18 provided by this subchapter.
5-19 Sec. 324.110. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September
5-20 1, 2007.
5-21 SECTION 3. Chapter 26, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section
5-22 26.0435 to read as follows:
5-23 Sec. 26.0435. EFFECTIVE TAX RATE IN COUNTY IMPOSING INDIGENT
5-24 HEALTH CARE PILOT PROGRAM SALES AND USE TAX. (a) Except as
5-25 provided by Subsection (b), in the tax year in which a county has
5-26 set an election on the question of whether to impose a local sales
5-27 and use tax under Subchapter E, Chapter 324, the officer or
6-1 employee designated to make the calculations provided by Section
6-2 26.04 may not make those calculations until the outcome of the
6-3 election is determined. If the election is determined in favor of
6-4 the imposition of the tax, the representative shall subtract from
6-5 the county's rollback and effective tax rates the amount that, if
6-6 applied to the county's current total value, would impose an amount
6-7 equal to 50 percent of the amount the county spent on health care
6-8 services under Sections 61.028 and 61.0285, Health and Safety Code,
6-9 during the previous tax year, as reported to the Texas Department
6-10 of Health under Section 61.041, Health and Safety Code.
6-11 (b) If the election to impose the local sales and use tax
6-12 under Subchapter E, Chapter 324, is scheduled to be held after
6-13 October 1, the county shall apply the provisions of Subsection (a)
6-14 during the next tax year.
6-15 (c) In a tax year to which this section applies, a reference
6-16 in this chapter to the county's effective or rollback tax rate
6-17 refers to that rate as adjusted under this section.
6-18 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
6-19 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
6-20 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
6-21 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
6-22 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.