HBA-DMH C.S.S.B. 1212 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1212 By: Zaffirini Public Health 5/11/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A chemical dependency counselor is prohibited from practicing in Texas, unless the person is licensed by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (TCADA) as a chemical dependency counselor. Applicants for a license must pass an examination prepared and administered by TCADA. Current law prohibits an applicant who fails the examination from taking the examination more than three times. C.S.S.B. 1212 removes this provision, effectively allowing a person to take the examination more than three times. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in SECTION 1 (Section 504.157, Occupations Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 1212 amends the Occupations Code to require the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse by rule to establish the criteria under which an applicant who fails the chemical dependency counselor's examination may take a subsequent examination on payment of the required examination fee. The bill removes the provision prohibiting an applicant from being reexamined more than three times. 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.S.B. 1212 differs from the original bill by removing the prohibition against an applicant being reexamined more than three times and by requiring the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse by rule to establish reexamination criteria for a chemical dependency counselor's examination, whereas the original authorizes and applicant to retake the part of the examination the applicant failed and specified the criteria that the applicant must meet to latke any part of the examination that the applicant failed three additional times.