86R13291 SCL-D
 
  By: Lucio S.B. No. 1123
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to border health programs conducted by the Department of
  State Health Services in collaboration with Mexican and federal
  authorities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Health
  and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER F. [OFFICE OF] BORDER HEALTH
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 12.075 to read as follows:
         Sec. 12.075.  BORDER HEALTH PROGRAMS WITH MEXICO. The
  department, in collaboration with the Office of State-Federal
  Relations and appropriate federal agencies, shall for counties
  located along the international border with Mexico:
               (1)  increase collaboration between local, state, and
  federal public health agencies in this state and local, state, and
  federal public health agencies in Mexico;
               (2)  expand vector-borne disease surveillance,
  testing, and insecticide resistance testing and collaborate with
  the appropriate Mexican authorities to expand that surveillance and
  testing in the Mexican states located along the Texas-Mexico
  border;
               (3)  expand border infectious disease surveillance
  projects provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
  Prevention;
               (4)  support sister-city binational health councils by
  establishing binational epidemiology and surveillance teams to
  exchange information between local governmental agencies in this
  state and in Mexico;
               (5)  formalize public health surveillance, testing,
  information sharing, and public health mitigation strategies
  between local and state health departments, the United States, and
  the appropriate counterparts in Mexico by:
                     (A)  establishing and entering into a memorandum
  of understanding or other agreement; and
                     (B)  establishing appropriate protocols and
  procedures; and
               (6)  participate in binational sister-city, state, and
  national conferences on strategies for increasing collaboration,
  communication, and protocol sharing between jurisdictions impacted
  by local and international public health concerns.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.