78R5818 JRD-D

By:  Naishtat                                                     H.B. No. 1490



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the development and implementation of a statewide 
suicide prevention plan under the direction of the Health and Human 
Services Commission.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 531.064 to read as follows:
	Sec. 531.064.  SUICIDE PREVENTION PLAN. (a)  The commission  
shall develop a statewide suicide prevention plan.
	(b)  The commission shall establish a Suicide Prevention 
Council to advise and assist the commission in developing and 
overseeing the implementation of the plan.
	(c)  The following state agencies shall each appoint a 
representative to the Suicide Prevention Council: the Texas 
Department on Aging; the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug 
Abuse; the Texas Education Agency; the Texas Department of Health; 
the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation; and 
the commission.  The commission shall appoint at least two members 
of the Texas Suicide Prevention Plan Steering Committee, one member 
of the governor's trauma advisory council, and two persons who have 
lost a loved one to suicide to the council and may appoint other 
persons to the council as the commission considers appropriate.  A 
member of the council appointed by the commission:
		(1)  serves on the council at the will of the 
commission; and        
		(2)  is not entitled to compensation for service on the 
council but is entitled to reasonable and necessary travel expenses 
incurred by the member in attending meetings of the council,  
subject to any applicable limitation on reimbursement provided by 
general law or the General Appropriations Act.
	(d)  Chapter 2110 does not apply to the Suicide Prevention 
Council.   
	(e)  In developing the statewide suicide prevention plan, 
the commission and the council shall consult the National Strategy 
For Suicide Prevention developed by the Surgeon General of the 
United States.
	(f)  The commission and any other state agency listed in 
Subsection (c) may accept gifts, grants, and donations for the 
purpose of developing or implementing the plan.
	(g)  The commission or another agency listed in Subsection 
(c) may implement provisions of the plan to the extent that gifts, 
grants, donations, or other money is made available to the 
commission or other agency for that purpose.  The commission, in 
implementing the plan, may make grants to appropriate local or 
statewide public or private entities to accomplish objectives of 
the plan.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.