Bill Text: TX HB3694 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the health professions resource center; increasing a fee.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-31 - Referred to Public Health [HB3694 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB3694-Introduced.html

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85R11576 EES-D
By: Farrar H.B. No. 3694

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the health professions resource center; increasing a
fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 105.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) To the extent funding is available through fees
collected under Section 505.203(d), Occupations Code, the council
shall establish a social work section for workforce studies within
the center for the collection and analysis of educational and
employment trends for social workers in this state.
(e) If the social work section for workforce studies
established under Subsection (d) is funded from surcharges
collected under Section 505.203(d), Occupations Code, the council
shall provide the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners with
an annual accounting of the money received from the board. The
council may expend a reasonable amount of the money to pay the
administrative costs of maintaining the social work section for
workforce studies.
SECTION 2. Sections 105.003(a), (c-1), (d), and (e), Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The council shall place a high priority on collecting
and disseminating data on health professions demonstrating an acute
shortage in this state, including:
(1) data concerning nursing personnel; [and]
(2) data concerning social workers; and
(3) data concerning the health professions in which
shortages occur in rural areas and areas near the international
border.
(c-1) The Department of Information Resources, through the
state electronic Internet portal and in consultation with the
council and the Health Professions Council, shall add the following
fields on an application or renewal form for a license,
certificate, or registration for a person subject to Subsection
(c-2):
(1) date and place of birth;
(2) sex;
(3) race and ethnicity;
(4) location of high school;
(5) mailing address of primary practice;
(6) number of hours per week spent at primary practice
location;
(7) description of primary practice setting;
(8) primary practice information, including primary
specialty practice, practice location zip code, and county; [and]
(9) information regarding any additional practice,
including description of practice setting, practice location zip
code, and county; and
(10) a description of the person's language fluency.
(d) To the extent feasible, the council shall use a
researcher with a doctorate in nursing to collect, analyze, and
disseminate nursing data that may be used to predict supply and
demand for nursing personnel in this state using appropriate
federal or state supply-and-demand models. To the extent feasible,
the council shall use a researcher with a degree from a master's
social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work
Education and a doctorate in social work to collect, analyze, and
disseminate social work data that may be used to predict supply and
demand for social work personnel in this state using appropriate
federal or state supply-and-demand models. The nursing and social
work data must at least:
(1) include demographics, areas of practice, supply,
demand, and migration; and
(2) be analyzed to identify trends relating to numbers
and geographical distribution, practice setting, and area of
practice and, to the extent possible, compare those trends with
corresponding national trends.
(e) Data received under this section by the nursing resource
section or the social work section for workforce studies
established under Section 105.002 that contains information
identifying specific patients or health care facilities is
confidential, is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code, and may not be released unless all identifying
information is removed.
SECTION 3. Section 105.004(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The council shall publish reports regarding the data
collected and analyzed under this chapter related to:
(1) the educational and employment trends of nursing
and social work professionals;
(2) the supply and demand of nursing and social work
professionals; and
(3) other issues, as determined necessary by the
council, concerning nursing or social work professionals in this
state.
SECTION 4. Section 505.203, Occupations Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the
amount of the fee to renew a social worker license is increased by
$10. The board may use six cents from the amount of the surcharge
under this subsection to cover the administrative costs of
collecting and depositing the surcharge. The board quarterly shall
transmit the remainder of each surcharge to the Department of State
Health Services to be used only to fund the social work section for
workforce studies under Section 105.002, Health and Safety Code.
The board is not required to collect the surcharge if the board
determines that the money collected is not appropriated to fund the
social work section for workforce studies.
SECTION 5. Section 505.203(d), Occupations Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a license renewed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A license renewed before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
license was renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.