78R5408 KLA-D

By:  Zaffirini                                                    S.B. No. 1247



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the redirection of money appropriated to provide care 
for certain persons in nursing facilities to provide 
community-based services to those persons.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 22, Human Resources Code, is amended by 
adding Section 22.006 to read as follows:
	Sec. 22.006.  REDIRECTION OF MONEY TO PROVIDE 
COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES.  (a)  The department shall develop a 
mechanism by which the department identifies money appropriated to 
the department to provide care for a person who lives in a nursing 
facility and redirects that money within the department's budget to 
provide community-based services when the person leaves the nursing 
facility to live in the community with the assistance of those 
services.
	(b)  The department shall, using the mechanism developed 
under this section, redirect an amount of money that is equal to the 
amount required by the department to provide community-based 
services during the state fiscal biennium to persons who leave 
nursing facilities to live in the community with the assistance of 
those services.
	SECTION 2.  Not later than January 1, 2004, the Texas 
Department of Human Services shall develop and implement the 
mechanism for redirecting money as required by Section 22.006, 
Human Resources Code, as added by this Act.
	SECTION 3.  If before implementing any provision of this Act 
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a 
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, 
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or 
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the 
waiver or authorization is granted.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.