83R2373 AED-D

By: Nelson S.B. No. 149

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

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

SECTION 1. Section 102.051, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The institute shall employ a compliance officer, who, under the direction of the executive director, shall ensure that:

(1) all grant proposals comply with this chapter and with rules adopted under this chapter before being submitted to the oversight committee for approval; and

(2) the institute and its employees and its committee members appointed under this chapter comply with all laws and rules governing the peer review process and conflicts of interest.

SECTION 2. Section 102.052(a), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The institute shall issue an annual public report outlining the institute's activities, grants awarded, grants in progress, research accomplishments, and future program directions. The report must include:

(1) the number and dollar amounts of research and facilities grants;

(2) identification of the grant recipients for the reported year;

(3) the institute's administrative expenses;

(4) an assessment of the availability of funding for cancer research from sources other than the institute;

(5) a summary of findings of research funded by the institute, including promising new research areas;

(6) an assessment of the relationship between the institute's grants and the overall strategy of its research program;

(7) a statement of the institute's strategic research and financial plans; [and]

(8) an estimate of how much cancer has cost the state during the year, including the amounts spent by the state relating to cancer by the child health program, the Medicaid program, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and the Employees Retirement System of Texas; and

(9) a statement of the institute's compliance program activities, including any proposed legislation or other recommendations identified through the activities.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 102.057 to read as follows:

Sec. 102.057. PROHIBITED OFFICE LOCATION. An institute employee may not have an office in a facility owned by an entity receiving or applying to receive money from the institute.

SECTION 4. Section 102.107, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 102.107. POWERS AND DUTIES. The oversight committee shall:

(1) hire an executive director;

(2) annually set priorities for each grant program and each category of funded research that receives money under this chapter; and

(3) consider the priorities set under Subdivision (2) in awarding grants under this chapter.

SECTION 5. Section 102.156, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(a) A member of a research and prevention programs committee, the university advisory committee, or any ad hoc committee appointed under this subchapter shall disclose in writing to the executive director if the member has a professional [an interest in a matter that comes before the member's committee] or [has] a substantial financial interest in an entity that has a direct interest in a [the] matter that comes before the member's committee.

(d) A person has a professional interest in an entity receiving or applying to receive money from the institute if the person:

(1) is a member of the board of directors, other governing board, or any committee of the entity during the same grant cycle;

(2) serves as an elected or appointed officer of the entity;

(3) is an employee of or is negotiating future employment with the entity;

(4) represents the entity;

(5) is a professional associate of a primary member of the entity's research or prevention program applicant's team;

(6) is, or within the preceding six years has been, a student, postdoctoral associate, or part of a laboratory research group for a primary member of the entity's research or prevention program applicant's team;

(7) is engaged or is actively planning to be engaged in collaboration with a primary member of the entity's research or prevention program applicant's team; or

(8) has long-standing scientific differences or disagreements with a primary member of the entity's research or prevention program applicant's team, and those differences:

(A) are known to the professional community; and

(B) could be perceived as affecting objectivity.

SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 102, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 102.157 to read as follows:

Sec. 102.157. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: WAIVER. (a) The executive director may expressly waive the recusal requirement and participation prohibition of Section 102.156(b) if the executive director determines that:

(1) it would be difficult or impractical to carry out necessary action without the waiver;

(2) the need for the participation of the member outweighs the member's potential bias; and

(3) the waiver is in the best interest of the institute and would not impair the integrity of the deliberation, action, or decision.

(b) The executive director shall maintain a written record of each waiver and the reasons for it.

SECTION 7. Subchapter F, Chapter 102, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 102.263 to read as follows:

Sec. 102.263. COMPLIANCE PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "compliance program" means a process to assess and ensure compliance by the institute's committee members and employees with applicable laws, rules, and policies, including matters of:

(1) ethics and standards of conduct;

(2) financial reporting;

(3) internal accounting controls; and

(4) auditing.

(b) The institute shall establish a compliance program that operates under the direction of the institute's compliance officer. The institute may establish procedures, such as a telephone hotline, to allow private access to the compliance program office and to preserve the confidentiality of communications and the anonymity of a person making a compliance report or participating in a compliance investigation.

(c) The following are confidential:

(1) information that directly or indirectly reveals the identity of an individual who made a report to the institute's compliance program office, sought guidance from the office, or participated in an investigation conducted under the compliance program; and

(2) information that directly or indirectly reveals the identity of an individual who is alleged to have or may have planned, initiated, or participated in activities that are the subject of a report made to the office if, after completing an investigation, the office determines the report to be unsubstantiated or without merit.

(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to information related to an individual who consents to disclosure of the information.

(e) Information is excepted from disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, if it is collected or produced in a compliance program investigation and releasing the information would interfere with an ongoing compliance investigation.

(f) Information made confidential or excepted from public disclosure by this section may be made available to the following on request in compliance with applicable law and procedure:

(1) a law enforcement agency or prosecutor;

(2) a governmental agency responsible for investigating the matter that is the subject of a compliance report, including the Texas Workforce Commission civil rights division or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; or

(3) a committee member or employee of the institute who is responsible under institutional policy for a compliance program investigation or for a review of a compliance program investigation.

(g) A disclosure under Subsection (f) is not a voluntary disclosure for purposes of Section 552.007, Government Code.

SECTION 8. (a) Not later than December 1, 2013, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee shall employ a compliance officer as required by Section 102.051(c), Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.

(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee shall establish a compliance program as required by Section 102.263, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 9. 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.