| TO: | Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, House Committee on Public Health |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2505 by Walle (Relating to the establishment of a task force on lowering the incidence of premature births and improving the care of premature infants.), As Introduced |
The bill would require the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish a task force on premature infants to assist the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and other health and human services agencies with developing recommendations for lowering the incidence of births before 39 weeks of gestation and ensuring the proper care of premature infants after their discharge from the hospital. The task force will be required to submit a report of findings and recommendations not later than January 1, 2013.
The bill would go into effect immediately if it received two-thirds vote in each house, otherwise it would take effect September 1, 2011. The bill would abolish the task force, and the act would expire at the end of the the 2012-13 biennium.
According to the bill, members of the task force are entitled to travel reimbursement. HHSC indicates that the bill would result in some small travel expenses, but it is assumed that these costs could be absorbed within existing agency resources. DSHS indicates that implementation of the bill would not have a fiscal impact on the agency.
| Source Agencies: | 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 537 State Health Services, Department of
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, CL, MB, VJC, NB
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