BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 1686

By: Hardcastle

County Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Muenster Hospital District is governed by special district enabling legislation, Chapter 477, 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965.  This enabling legislation establishes the district’s authority to operate a hospital system and the district board’s duties and responsibilities.

 

C.S.H.B. 1686 authorizes the board of directors in the Muenster Hospital District in Cooke County to provide for the security and payment of district bonds from a pledge of a combination of property taxes and revenue and other sources and sets out the authorized uses for the bond's proceeds. 

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

 

C.S.H.B. 1686 amends Chapter 477, Acts of the 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965, to authorize the board of directors of the Muenster Hospital District to provide for the security and payment of district bonds from a pledge of a combination of property taxes and revenue and other sources as authorized under provisions for issuing, financing, and repaying bonds and to set forth the authorized uses for the proceeds of these bonds.

 

C.S.H.B. 1686 removes a condition that the board of directors must declare that funds are not available to meet the lawfully authorized obligations of the district and that an emergency exists before the board may borrow money at a certain percentage rate.

 

C.S.H.B. 1686 repeals Section 20a(d), Chapter 477, Acts of the 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965, relating to the limitations on spending money obtained from a loan.

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1686 removes a provision in the original that authorized the board of directors of the Muenster Hospital District in Cooke County to employ physicians or other health care providers as the board considered necessary for the efficient operation of the district. The substitute removes a provision in the original that prohibits its provisions from being construed as authorizing the board to supervise or control the practice of medicine as prohibited under the Medical Practice Act.

 

C.S.H.B. 1686 removes a provision in the original that authorizes the district to establish a comprehensive program to provide income and medical benefits to a district employee who sustains an injury that arises out of and in the course and scope of employment. The substitute removes a provision in the original specifying that the district is exempt from providing workers' compensation insurance coverage, to the extent that provisions of the bill require the district to provide workers' compensation to its employees, if the district adopts the comprehensive program.