By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1742
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transfer 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. TRANSFER OF MONEY FOR COMMUNITY-BASED
SERVICES. (a) In this section, "health and human services
agencies" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.001, Government
Code.
(b) The department shall:
(1) quantify the amount of money appropriated by the
legislature that would have been spent during the remainder of a
state fiscal biennium to care for a person who lives in a nursing
facility but who is leaving that facility before the end of the
biennium to live in the community with the assistance of
community-based services; and
(2) notwithstanding any other state law and to the
maximum extent allowed by federal law, transfer at the time the
person leaves the nursing facility the amount quantified under
Subdivision (1) within the department's budget and to other health
and human services agencies as necessary to comply with this
section.
(c) The department or another health and human services
agency to which money is transferred under this section shall
ensure that the amount transferred is redirected to one or more
community-based programs to provide community-based services to
the person after the person leaves the nursing facility.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.