HBA-LJP H.B. 1640 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1640 By: Rangel Higher Education 3/18/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE According to the 2000 report "Texas-Mexico Border Health Education Needs: A Report to the 77th Legislature" of the Texas Department of Health and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas-Mexico border region (border region) has a population-to-pharmacist ratio of 1,770:1, which is 32 percent higher than the statewide ratio. The report contends that the border's rapid population growth and difficulty in recruiting and retaining pharmacists, and the lack of an increase in the number of pharmacist graduates in Texas over the last couple of years, contribute to the pharmacist shortage in the border region. Currently, there are no public pharmacy schools in the border region and a pharmacy school in South Texas may help relieve the shortage of pharmacists in the border region. House Bill 1640 creates a professional school of pharmacy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1640 amends the Education Code to require the board of regents of The Texas A&M University System (board) to establish and maintain, no later than the 2005-2006 academic year, a professional school of pharmacy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville if the legislature appropriates money specifically for the school of pharmacy. If the money is not appropriated from the legislature, the bill authorizes the board to establish and maintain the school of pharmacy at any time using other appropriations available for that purpose. The bill also requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to prepare an impact statement examining the initial implementation of the bill and to deliver a copy of the statement to the board and to the chair of the standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.