By Carona S.B. No. 1289 77R9334 JRD-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to regional injury prevention centers. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, is 1-5 amended by adding Chapter 780 to read as follows: 1-6 CHAPTER 780. REGIONAL INJURY PREVENTION CENTERS 1-7 Sec. 780.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-8 (1) "Board" means the Texas Board of Health. 1-9 (2) "Department" means the Texas Department of Health. 1-10 Sec. 780.002. REGIONAL INJURY PREVENTION CENTERS. (a) The 1-11 department shall designate seven regional centers for injury 1-12 prevention for the state in the following localities: 1-13 (1) Dallas; 1-14 (2) Harris and Galveston counties; 1-15 (3) Bexar County; 1-16 (4) Lubbock; 1-17 (5) El Paso; 1-18 (6) Corpus Christi; and 1-19 (7) Austin and Travis County. 1-20 (b) The regional injury prevention centers shall coordinate 1-21 injury prevention control activities within the public health 1-22 regions for the state designated by the department by rule. The 1-23 department may adopt rules permitting regional injury prevention 1-24 centers to provide services for regions served by other injury 2-1 prevention centers in this state as necessary to maximize efficient 2-2 use of resources and provide appropriate services in each region. 2-3 (c) Each regional injury prevention center shall affiliate 2-4 with a level one, two, or three trauma center as defined by the 2-5 American College of Surgeons. 2-6 Sec. 780.003. COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND ASSISTANCE. A regional 2-7 injury prevention center shall: 2-8 (1) work with communities and neighborhoods to help 2-9 establish their injury prevention priorities; 2-10 (2) help communities define and implement 2-11 interventions; 2-12 (3) develop links between electronic databases to 2-13 provide data to community entities; 2-14 (4) provide leadership by bringing community entities 2-15 together to address injury issues; and 2-16 (5) undertake a continuing epidemiologic evaluation of 2-17 the effectiveness of community-based interventions in reducing the 2-18 number and extent of injuries and in reducing costs. 2-19 Sec. 780.004. RESOURCE CENTER. (a) The department shall 2-20 designate one of the regional injury prevention centers as the 2-21 statewide resource center to provide to the other regional injury 2-22 prevention centers: 2-23 (1) assistance on how to develop and implement an 2-24 injury prevention program; 2-25 (2) assistance on how to develop effective coalitions; 2-26 (3) public awareness campaigns on injury reductions; 2-27 and 3-1 (4) technical assistance on how to develop and 3-2 implement an evaluation process to determine the effectiveness of 3-3 injury prevention interventions. 3-4 (b) The department's designation of an injury prevention 3-5 center as the statewide resource center is for a five-year period. 3-6 Sec. 780.005. RESEARCH PROGRAMS. (a) A regional injury 3-7 prevention center may conduct a research program to improve 3-8 treatments for trauma victims and to reduce the severity of 3-9 injuries from trauma. 3-10 (b) A regional injury prevention center may accept gifts or 3-11 grants from public or private sources to be used for research. 3-12 Sec. 780.006. PROVIDING INFORMATION AT BIRTH. Because 3-13 injury is a leading cause of death among children and adolescents, 3-14 the department shall assist the regional injury prevention centers 3-15 in providing informational packets on injury prevention to parents 3-16 shortly after a birth. 3-17 Sec. 780.007. STATE LIABILITY. A regional injury prevention 3-18 center is considered a state agency only for purposes of Chapter 3-19 104, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. An employee or former 3-20 employee of a regional injury prevention center is considered a 3-21 state employee or a former state employee only for purposes of 3-22 Chapter 104, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. 3-23 Sec. 780.008. COORDINATING COMMITTEE. (a) The Coordinating 3-24 Committee on Injury Prevention shall advise the board and the 3-25 Commission on State Emergency Communications. 3-26 (b) The committee shall make recommendations to the board 3-27 regarding which entity shall operate each regional injury 4-1 prevention center. 4-2 (c) The committee is composed of three members appointed by 4-3 the governor, three members appointed by the lieutenant governor, 4-4 and one member appointed by the board from each of the following 4-5 entities: 4-6 (1) a representative from each injury prevention 4-7 center or public health region; 4-8 (2) a representative from the Texas Council on Family 4-9 Violence; 4-10 (3) a representative from the Texas Transportation 4-11 Institute; and 4-12 (4) a representative from law enforcement. 4-13 (d) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the 4-14 size, composition, or duration of the advisory committee. 4-15 Sec. 780.009. FUNDING; GIFTS AND GRANTS. (a) The 4-16 sponsoring entity of each regional injury prevention center shall 4-17 contribute 40 percent of the regional injury prevention center's 4-18 budget. The state shall provide 60 percent of each regional injury 4-19 prevention center's budget. It is the intent of the legislature 4-20 that to the extent possible, the money provided by the state 4-21 shall come from tobacco litigation money the state receives under 4-22 the Comprehensive Settlement Agreement and Release filed in the 4-23 case of The State of Texas v. The American Tobacco Co., et al., No. 4-24 5-96CV-91, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of 4-25 Texas. 4-26 (b) The state shall provide all funding for statewide 4-27 activities of the resource center. 5-1 (c) The department shall establish a program to award grants 5-2 to fund the regional injury prevention centers. 5-3 (d) The board shall adopt rules to establish criteria for 5-4 awarding the grants. The rules must require the department to 5-5 consider: 5-6 (1) the need of a region, based on population served 5-7 for injury prevention services and the extent to which the grant 5-8 would meet the identified need; 5-9 (2) assurances that the grant will be used to provide 5-10 quality services; and 5-11 (3) the availability of other funding sources. 5-12 (e) The department may approve grants according to adopted 5-13 rules. A grant awarded under this section is governed by Chapter 5-14 783, Government Code, and the rules adopted under that chapter. 5-15 (f) The department may accept gifts or grants from any 5-16 source for purposes related to this chapter. 5-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 5-18 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 5-19 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this 5-20 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 5-21 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.