By Hunter H.B. No. 3591
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain non-profit libraries providing clinical medical
1-3 information.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 57.042, Utilities Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 57.042. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-8 (1) "Ambulatory health care center" means a health
1-9 care clinic or an association of such a clinic that is:
1-10 (A) exempt from federal income taxation under
1-11 Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, as an
1-12 organization described by Section 501(c)(3), as amended; and
1-13 (B) funded wholly or partly by a grant under 42
1-14 U.S.C. Section 254b, 254c, or 256, as amended.
1-15 (2) "Board" means the telecommunications
1-16 infrastructure fund board.
1-17 (3) "Commercial mobile service provider" means a
1-18 provider of commercial mobile service as defined by Section 332(d),
1-19 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.), Federal
1-20 Communications Commission rules, and the Omnibus Budget
1-21 Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. No. 103-66).
1-22 (4) "Fund" means the telecommunications infrastructure
1-23 fund.
2-1 (5) "Institution of higher education" means:
2-2 (A) an institution of higher education as
2-3 defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; or
2-4 (B) a private or independent institution of
2-5 higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
2-6 (6) "Library" means:
2-7 (A) a public library or regional library system
2-8 as those terms are defined by Section 441.122, Government Code;
2-9 [or]
2-10 (B) a library operated by an institution of
2-11 higher education or a school district; or[.]
2-12 (C) a library operated by a non-profit
2-13 corporation established under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act
2-14 (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) that
2-15 provides an extensive library collection including the fields of
2-16 clinical medicine and the history of medicine.
2-17 (7) "Public not-for-profit health care facility" means
2-18 a rural or regional hospital or other entity such as a rural health
2-19 clinic that:
2-20 (A) is supported by local or regional tax
2-21 revenue;
2-22 (B) is a certified not-for-profit health
2-23 corporation, under federal law; or
2-24 (C) is an ambulatory health care center.
2-25 (8) "School district" includes an independent school
2-26 district, a common school district, and a rural high school
3-1 district.
3-2 (9) "Public school" means a public elementary or
3-3 secondary school, including an open-enrollment charter school, a
3-4 home-rule school district school, and a school with a campus or
3-5 campus program charter.
3-6 (10) "Taxable telecommunications receipts" means
3-7 taxable telecommunications receipts reported under Chapter 151, Tax
3-8 Code.
3-9 (11) "Telemedicine":
3-10 (A) means medical services delivered by
3-11 telecommunications technologies to rural or underserved public
3-12 not-for-profit health care facilities or primary health care
3-13 facilities in collaboration with an academic health center and an
3-14 associated teaching hospital or tertiary center or with another
3-15 public not-for-profit health care facility; and
3-16 (B) includes consultive services, diagnostic
3-17 services, interactive video consultation, teleradiology,
3-18 telepathology, and distance education for working health care
3-19 professionals.
3-20 SECTION 2. Sections 441.221, 441.222, 441.223, 441.224, and
3-21 441.226, Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-22 Sec. 441.221. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
3-23 (1) "Commission" means the Texas State Library and
3-24 Archives Commission.
3-25 (2) "Institution of higher education" includes an
3-26 institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
4-1 Education Code, and a private or independent institution of higher
4-2 education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
4-3 (3) "Public library" has the meaning assigned by
4-4 Section 441.122.
4-5 (4) "Non-profit corporation" means a non-profit
4-6 corporation established under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act
4-7 (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) that
4-8 provides an extensive library collection including the fields of
4-9 clinical medicine and the history of medicine.
4-10 Sec. 441.222. CREATION OF CONSORTIUM. The commission shall
4-11 establish and maintain the TexShare consortium as a
4-12 resource-sharing consortium operated as a program within the
4-13 commission for libraries at institutions of higher education, [and]
4-14 for public libraries, and for libraries of non-profit corporations.
4-15 Sec. 441.223. FINDINGS; PURPOSE AND METHODS. The legislature
4-16 finds that it is necessary to assist libraries at public and
4-17 private or independent institutions of higher education, [and]
4-18 public libraries, and libraries of non-profit corporations to
4-19 promote the public good by achieving the following public purposes
4-20 through the following methods:
4-21 (1) to promote the future well-being of the citizenry,
4-22 enhance quality teaching and research excellence at institutions of
4-23 higher education through the efficient exchange of information and
4-24 the sharing of library resources, [and] improve educational
4-25 resources in all communities, and expand the availability of
4-26 information about clinical medical research and the history of
5-1 medicine;
5-2 (2) to maximize the effectiveness of library
5-3 expenditures by enabling libraries to share staff expertise and to
5-4 share library resources in print and in an electronic form,
5-5 including books, journals, technical reports, and databases;
5-6 (3) to increase the intellectual productivity of
5-7 students and faculty at the participating institutions of higher
5-8 education by emphasizing access to information rather than
5-9 ownership of documents and other information sources; and
5-10 (4) to facilitate joint purchasing agreements for
5-11 purchasing information services and encourage cooperative research
5-12 and development of information technologies.
5-13 Sec. 441.224. MEMBERSHIP; FEES. Membership in the consortium
5-14 is open to all institutions of higher education, [and to] all
5-15 public libraries that are members of the state library system, and
5-16 all libraries of non-profit corporations. The director and
5-17 librarian may establish categories of consortium services and
5-18 assess different fees to members for different categories of
5-19 consortium services.
5-20 Sec. 441.226. ADVISORY BOARD. (a) The commission shall
5-21 appoint an eleven-member advisory board to advise the commission on
5-22 matters relating to the consortium. At least two members must be
5-23 representatives of the general public, at least two members must be
5-24 affiliated with a four-year public university in the consortium, at
5-25 least two members must be affiliated with a public community
5-26 college in the consortium, at least two members must be affiliated
6-1 with a private institution of higher education in the consortium,
6-2 and at least two members must be affiliated with a public library
6-3 in the consortium. Members of the advisory board must be qualified
6-4 by training and experience to advise the commission on policy to be
6-5 followed in applying this subchapter. Chapter 2110 does not apply
6-6 to the composition of the advisory board.
6-7 (b) The advisory board shall meet regularly regarding
6-8 consortium programs and plans at the call of the advisory board's
6-9 chairman or of the director and librarian.
6-10 (c) Members of the advisory board serve three-year terms.
6-11 (d) A member of the advisory board serves without
6-12 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for actual and
6-13 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties,
6-14 subject to any applicable limitation on reimbursement provided by
6-15 the General Appropriations Act.
6-16 (e) The advisory board shall elect a chairman and a vice
6-17 chairman.
6-18 (f) The advisory board may recommend to the commission that
6-19 the consortium enter into cooperative projects with entities other
6-20 than public libraries, [or] institutions of higher education, or
6-21 non-profit corporations.
6-22 SECTION 3. The State Library and Archives Commission shall
6-23 phase in the expansion of the Texshare library consortium to
6-24 include libraries of non-profit corporations only to the extent
6-25 that the commission may efficiently do so with the appropriations
6-26 made to the commission and only in a manner that does not reduce
7-1 services to academic and public libraries as a result of the
7-2 expansion.
7-3 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.