83R6567 YDB-F

By: Smith H.B. No. 1443

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the dedication of certain unclaimed lottery prize money to fund the repair, restoration, and permanent dry berth of the Battleship "Texas."

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

SECTION 1. Section 466.408(b), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) If a claim is not made for prize money on or before the 180th day after the date on which the winner was selected, the prize money shall be used in the following order of priority:

(1) subject to legislative appropriation, not more than $20 million in prize money each year may be deposited to or appropriated from the [Texas] Department of State Health Services state-owned multicategorical teaching hospital account, which is an account in the general revenue fund;

(2) not more than $5 million in prize money each year may be appropriated to the Health and Human Services Commission and shall be used to support the provision of inpatient hospital services in hospitals located in the 15 counties that comprise the Texas-Mexico border area, with payment for those services to be not less than the amount established under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) cost reimbursement methodology for the hospital providing the services;

(3) not more than [the remaining amount, not to exceed] $5 million in prize money in each state fiscal year less any amount deposited in the fund in that year attributable to the lottery game operated under Section 466.027, shall be deposited to the fund for veterans' assistance; [and]

(4) not more than $10 million in prize money in each state fiscal year may be appropriated to the Parks and Wildlife Department and must be used to repair, restore, and present in a permanent dry berth the Battleship "Texas" at the place the ship was located on January 1, 2013; and

(5) all prize money subject to this section and not appropriated or deposited as provided by Subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4) [from the Texas Department of Health state-owned multicategorical teaching hospital account, not appropriated to the Health and Human Services Commission for the purpose specified in Subdivision (2), and not deposited under Subdivision (3),] shall be deposited in the general revenue fund and may be appropriated for any purpose as determined by the legislature, including the provision of indigent health care services as specified in Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section 466.408(b), Government Code, applies only to a prize for which the winner is selected on or after September 1, 2013. A prize for which the winner was selected before September 1, 2013, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.