By Zaffirini                                            S.B. No. 54
         77R1751 KLA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to reports by health and human services agencies on the
 1-3     efforts to deliver health and human services to young Texans.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 531.0244 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 531.0244.  DELIVERY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO
 1-8     YOUNG TEXANS. (a)  The executive head of each health and human
 1-9     services agency shall report annually to the governing body of that
1-10     agency on that agency's efforts to provide health and human
1-11     services to children younger than four years of age, including the
1-12     development of any new programs or the enhancement of existing
1-13     programs.  The agency shall submit a copy of the report to the
1-14     commission.
1-15           (b)  The commission shall prepare and deliver a biennial
1-16     report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the
1-17     house of representatives, the comptroller, the Legislative Budget
1-18     Board, and appropriate legislative committees on the efforts of the
1-19     health and human services agencies to provide health and human
1-20     services to children younger than four years of age. The report may
1-21     contain  recommendations by the commission to better coordinate
1-22     state agency programs relating to the delivery of health and human
1-23     services to children younger than four years of age and may propose
1-24     joint agency collaborative programs.
 2-1           (c)  The commissioner shall adopt rules relating to the
 2-2     reports required by Subsection (a), including rules specifying when
 2-3     and in what manner a health and human services agency must report
 2-4     and the information to be included in the report.  Each agency
 2-5     shall follow the rules adopted by the commissioner under this
 2-6     section.
 2-7           SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2002, the Health and
 2-8     Human Services Commission shall prepare and deliver the first
 2-9     biennial report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
2-10     speaker of the house of representatives, the comptroller, the
2-11     Legislative Budget Board, and appropriate legislative committees on
2-12     the efforts of the health and human services agencies to provide
2-13     health and human services to children younger than four years of
2-14     age, as required by Section 531.0244(b), Government Code, as added
2-15     by this Act.