By: Zerwas (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 3253

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013; April 30, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; May 13, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 13, 2013, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3253 By: Nelson

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the notation of death on a birth certificate and the release of birth certificate information for certain purposes.

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

SECTION 1. Section 191.034, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 191.034. NOTATION OF DEATH ON BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) On receipt of the death certificate of a person [younger than 55 years of age] whose birth is registered in this state, the state registrar shall conspicuously note the person's date of death [make a conspicuous notation] on the person's [decedent's] birth certificate [that the person is dead].

(b) The state registrar shall notify [provide computer-generated abstracts, transcripts, or copies of the death certificate to] the county clerk of the county in which the person [decedent] was born and [to] the local registrar of the registration district in which the person [decedent] was born of the person's death. On receipt of the notification of death, the county clerk or local registrar shall conspicuously note the person's date of death [make a conspicuous notation] on the person's [decedent's] birth certificate [that the person is dead].

SECTION 2. Section 192.002(b), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The section of the birth certificate entitled "For Medical and Health Use Only" is not part of the legal birth certificate. Information held by the department under that section of the certificate is confidential. That information may not be released or made public on subpoena or otherwise, except that release may be made for statistical purposes only so that no person, patient, or facility is identified, or to medical personnel of a health care entity, as that term is defined in Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code, or to a faculty member at a medical school, as that term is defined in Section 61.501, Education Code, for statistical or medical research, or to appropriate state or federal agencies for statistical research. The board may adopt rules to implement this subsection.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

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