S.B. 864 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 864 By: Van de Putte Public Health Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, physicians licensed to practice in Texas who develop a policy supporting breast-feeding are not encouraged to designate "breast-feeding friendly" in promotional materials. As proposed, S.B. 864 authorizes a physician licensed to practice in this state to use the designation "breastfeeding friendly" in promotional materials if the physician develops a policy supporting breastfeeding and submits that policy to the Texas Department of Health (TDH). The bill also requires TDH to maintain a list of such physicians and to make the list available to the public. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS SB 864 authorizes a physician licensed to practice in this state to use the designation "breast-feeding friendly" in promotional materials if the physician develops a policy supporting breast-feeding and submits the policy to TDH. The bill requires TDH to maintain a list of "breast-feeding friendly" physicians and to make the list available to the public at TDH and on the Internet. SB 864 requires TDH to publicize the program to all obstetricians, pediatricians, family practice physicians, and general practice physicians who are licensed in this state. The list of "breast-feeding friendly" physicians is required to be available no later than September 1, 2004. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003