HBA-NMO H.B. 2562 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2562 By: Hodge Public Health 3/23/99 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1994, Dallas County created the Greater Dallas Injury Prevention Center (GDIPC) to reduce the incidence and severity of injuries in Dallas County through education, public information, data collection, community advocacy, and research. Regional injury prevention centers modeled on GDIPC may reduce the incidence and severity of injury in this state. H.B. 2562 requires the Texas Department of Health to designate seven regional centers (centers) for injury prevention in the following areas: Dallas; Harris and Galveston counties; Bexar County; Lubbock; El Paso; Corpus Christi; and Austin and Travis County. This bill also requires the centers to address certain issues and sets forth the funding structure for the centers. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Board of Health in SECTION 1 (Sections 779.002 and 779.009, Health and Safety Code, respectively) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subtitle B, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, by adding Chapter 779, as follows: CHAPTER 779. REGIONAL INJURY PREVENTION CENTERS Sec. 779.001. DEFINITIONS. Defines "board" as the Texas Board of Health, and "department" as the Texas Department of Health. Sec. 779.002. REGIONAL INJURY PREVENTION CENTERS. (a) Requires the department to designate seven regional centers for injury prevention in the following areas: Dallas; Harris and Galveston counties; Bexar County; Lubbock; El Paso; Corpus Christi; and Austin and Travis County. (b) Requires the regional injury prevention centers (centers) to coordinate injury prevention control activities within the public health regions for the state designated by the department, by rule. Authorizes the department, by rule, to adopt rules permitting centers to provide services for regions served by other injury prevention centers in this state as necessary to maximize the efficient use of resources and provide appropriate services in each region. (c) Requires each center to affiliate with a level one, two, or three trauma center as defined by the American College of Surgeons. Sec. 779.003. COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND ASSISTANCE. Requires a center to work with communities and neighborhoods to help establish their injury prevention priorities, help communities define and implement interventions, develop links between electronic databases to provide data to community entities, provide leadership by bringing community entities together to address injury issues, and undertake a continuing epidemiologic evaluation of the effectiveness of community based interventions in reducing the number and extent of injuries and in reducing costs. Sec. 779.004. RESOURCE CENTER. Requires the department to designate one of the centers as the statewide resource center to provide the other centers with certain assistance. Provides that the department's designation of a center as the statewide resource center is for a five-year period. Sec. 779.005. RESEARCH PROGRAMS. Authorizes a center to conduct a research program to improve treatments for trauma victims and to reduce the severity of injuries from trauma. Authorizes a center to accept gifts or grants from public or private sources to be used for research. Sec. 779.006. PROVIDING INFORMATION AT BIRTH. Requires the department to assist the centers in providing informational packets on injury prevention to parents shortly after a birth. Sec. 779.007. STATE LIABILITY. Provides that a center is considered a state agency only for the purposes of Chapter 104 (State Liability for Conduct of Public Servants), Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Provides that an employee or former employee of a center is considered a state employee or a former state employee only for the purposes of Chapter 104. Sec. 779.008. COORDINATING COMMITTEE. Requires the Coordinating Committee on Injury Prevention (committee) to advise the board and the Advisory Commission on State Emergency Communications. Requires the committee to make recommendations to the board regarding which entity shall operate each center. Sets forth the appointment and composition of the committee. Provides that Chapter 2110 (State Agency Advisory Committees), Government Code, does not apply to the size, composition, or duration of the committee. Sec. 779.009. FUNDING; GIFTS AND GRANTS. (a) Requires the sponsoring entity of each center to contribute 40 percent of the center's budget. Requires the state to provide 60 percent of each center's budget. Provides that it is the intent of the legislature that to the extent possible, the money provided by the state shall come from tobacco litigation money the state receives under the Comprehensive Settlement Agreement and Release filed in the case of The State of Texas v. The American Tobacco Co., et al., No. 5-96CV-91, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. (b) Requires the state to provide all funding for statewide activities of the resource center. (c) Requires the department to establish a program to award grants to fund the centers. (d) Requires the board to adopt rules to establish criteria for awarding the grants. Provides that the rules must require the department to make certain considerations. (e) Authorizes the department to approve grants according to adopted rules. Provides that a grant awarded under this section is governed by Chapter 783 (Uniform Grant and Contract Management), Government Code and the rules adopted under that chapter. (f) Authorizes the department to accept gifts or grants from any source for purposes related to this chapter. SECTION 2.Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.