HBA-BSM C.S.H.B. 3469 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3469 By: McClendon Higher Education 4/27/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there is a shortage of physicians in the rural areas of Texas while the need for medical services in Texas is increasing. Almost 16 percent of the Texas population resides in rural areas of the state, and approximately 56,000 people live in counties without a primary care physician. There is approximately one primary care physician for every 700 people in the state, but in rural areas the ratio is approximately one physician for every 1,300 people. The establishment of a medical school at Prairie View A&M University could help to address this critical health need. C.S.H.B. 3469 establishes a medical school at Prairie View A&M University. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the board of regents of The Texas A&M University System in SECTION 1 (Section 87.842, Education Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 3469 amends the Education Code to require the board of regents (board) of The Texas A&M University System to establish and maintain the Prairie View A&M Medical School (medical school). The bill authorizes the board to prescribe courses leading to customary degrees offered in other leading American medical schools and to award those degrees. The bill authorizes the board to make rules and regulations for the operation, control, and management of the medical school. The bill authorizes the board to execute and carry out affiliation or coordinating agreements with any institution or entity and to make joint appointments to other institutions in The Texas A&M University System. The bill requires the board to develop a plan for establishing the school, take the necessary steps to establish the medical school not later than January 1, 2007, and begin admitting students to the medical school not later than the fall semester of 2008. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 3469 differs from the original bill by removing the provision that established the medical school account as a separate account in the general fund. The substitute removes the requirement that the Public Utility Commission determine whether a local exchange company is imposing switched access rates on a combined originating and terminating basis that are in excess of the rates allowed for recovery of switched access revenue and that the local exchange company deposit an amount equal to the excess into the Prairie View A&M medical school account. The substitute modifies the original by adding the provisions that require the board to develop a plan for establishing the school, establish the medical school not later than January 1, 2007, and begin admitting students not later than the fall semester of 2008. The substitute modifies the effective date.