80R3169 TAD-D

By: Naishtat H.B. No. 2378

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Travis County Healthcare District.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 803, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 803.204 to read as follows:

Sec. 803.204. COMBINED SERVICE CREDIT IN CERTAIN SYSTEMS. (a) This section applies only to an employee of a municipality described by Section 803.0021(1):

(1) who is involuntarily transferred to an employment position in either a hospital district located in the county in which the municipality is primarily located or a charitable organization created by the hospital district; or

(2) whose employment with the municipality terminated before the employee became employed by either a hospital district located in the county in which the municipality is primarily located or a charitable organization created by the hospital district.

(b) Any service credit earned by an employee described by Subsection (a) at the hospital district or the charitable organization will be combined under Section 803.201 to determine eligibility for retirement under the municipal retirement system.

(c) On retirement, an employee described by Subsection (a) will receive a benefit from the municipality as determined by Subchapter D, and if the hospital district has established or participates in a retirement program or the charitable organization has a retirement plan, will receive a benefit from the hospital district or charitable organization as determined by the terms of the district's or organization's retirement plan.

SECTION 2. Section 1431.001(2), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(2) "Eligible countywide district" means a flood control district or a hospital district the boundaries of which are substantially coterminous with the boundaries of a county with a population of three million or more or a hospital district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003.

SECTION 3. Section 61.056, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) A hospital district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003, may affiliate with any public or private entity to provide regional administration and delivery of health care services. The regional affiliation, in accordance with the affiliation agreement, shall use money contributed by an affiliated governmental entity to provide health care services to an eligible resident of that governmental entity.

SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 281, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0281 to read as follows:

Sec. 281.0281. EMPLOYMENT OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. (a) This section applies only to a district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003.

(b) The board may employ physicians, dentists, or other health care providers as the board considers necessary for the district's efficient operation.

(c) This section does not authorize the board to supervise or control the practice of medicine or permit the unauthorized practice of medicine, as prohibited by Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code.

SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 281, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0511 to read as follows:

Sec. 281.0511. CONTRACTING AUTHORITY OF CERTAIN DISTRICTS. (a) This section applies only to a district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003.

(b) Notwithstanding Sections 281.050 and 281.051, the board may contract with any person, including a private or public entity or a political subdivision of this state, to provide or assist in the provision of services.

SECTION 6. Section 281.0565, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:

(d) A district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003, may make a capital or other financial contribution to a charitable organization created by the district to provide regional administration and delivery of health care services to or for the district.

(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a charitable organization created by a district described by Subsection (d) is not a unit of local government for purposes of Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

SECTION 7. Subchapter G, Chapter 281, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 281.124 to read as follows:

Sec. 281.124. ELECTION TO APPROVE TAX RATE IN EXCESS OF ROLLBACK TAX RATE. (a) This section applies only to a district created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003.

(b) The board may hold an election at which the registered voters of the district may approve a tax rate for the current tax year that exceeds the district's rollback tax rate for the year computed under Chapter 26, Tax Code, by a specific rate stated in dollars and cents per $100 of taxable value.

(c) An election under this section must be held at least 180 days before the date on which the district's tax rate is adopted by the board. At the election, the ballot shall be prepared to permit voting for or against the proposition: "Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $ (insert total proposed tax rate) per $100 valuation in (insert district name) for the (insert current tax year) tax year, a rate that exceeds the district's rollback tax rate. The proposed ad valorem tax rate exceeds the ad valorem tax rate most recently adopted by the district by $(insert difference between proposed and preceding year's tax rates) per $100 valuation."

(d) If a majority of the votes cast in the election favor the proposition, the tax rate for the specified tax year is the rate approved by the voters, and that rate is not subject to a rollback election under Section 26.07, Tax Code. The board shall adopt the tax rate as provided by Chapter 26, Tax Code.

(e) If the proposition is not approved as provided by Subsection (c), the board may not adopt a tax rate for the district for the specified tax year that exceeds the rate that was not approved, and Section 26.07, Tax Code, applies to the adopted rate if that rate exceeds the rollback tax rate.

(f) Notwithstanding any other law, if a majority of the votes cast in the election favor the proposition, a governing body with approval authority over the district's budget or tax rate may not disapprove the tax rate approved by the voters or disapprove the budget based solely on the tax rate approved by the voters.

SECTION 8. Section 162.001, Occupations Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c-4) and (c-5) to read as follows:

(c-4) The board shall certify a health organization to contract with or employ physicians licensed by the board if the organization:

(1) is a hospital district:

(A) recognized by a federal agency as a public entity eligible to receive a grant related to a community or federally qualified health center described by Subdivision (2); and

(B) created in a county with a population of more than 800,000 that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003; and

(2) is organized and operated as:

(A) a migrant, community, or homeless health center under the authority of and in compliance with 42 U.S.C. Section 254b or 254c; or

(B) a federally qualified health center under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396d(l)(2)(B).

(c-5) This section applies to a hospital district described by Subsection (c-4) only in relation to the hospital district's operations as a community or federally qualified health center described by Subsection (c-4)(2).

SECTION 9. Section 281.123, Health and Safety Code, is repealed.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.