BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 252

By: Farrar

Public Health

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that there is a need to specifically inform families and caregivers about the dangers of exposing a newborn, infant, or other child to secondhand smoke and to make that information more accessible to the public. H.B. 252 provides methods for increasing awareness of those dangers by specifically including information about exposure to secondhand smoke and about smoking cessation in the resource pamphlet that must be given to families and caregivers by certain health care providers who provide prenatal care and by requiring the placement of all the information in that resource pamphlet on the Department of State Health Services website.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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. 252 amends the Health and Safety Code to include among the required contents of the resource pamphlet that a hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife, or midwife who provides prenatal care to a pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant is required to provide to the woman and the father of the infant, if possible, or another adult caregiver for the infant information in both English and Spanish from reputable sources regarding the dangers of exposing a child to secondhand smoke and available resources to assist a person who wants to stop smoking. The bill requires the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to make the required informational materials in the resource pamphlet available on the DSHS website not later than December 1, 2019, and establishes that an applicable facility is not required to comply with the bill's provisions until January 1, 2020.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.