BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2315

By: Coleman

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A county without a public hospital is required to provide certain medical services for indigent county residents and, if the expenditures of the services exceed a certain percentage of the county's general revenue tax levy, the county is eligible for state assistance through matching grant funds.  Currently, expenditures for debt service are included in the calculation of the tax levy, and interested parties assert that this penalizes counties that fund necessary capital improvements, such as jails, county buildings, and transportation projects, by the issuance of bonds and certificates of obligation.  H.B. 2315 seeks to address this issue by establishing provisions relating to a county's general revenue levy for indigent health care.

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

H.B. 2315 amends the Health and Safety Code to redefine "general revenue levy," for purposes of the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, to include property taxes imposed by a county that are not dedicated to the payment of principal or interest on county debt. The bill makes a nonsubstantive change.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.