Bill Text: TX HB3704 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the allocation of certain fees on the sale of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products manufactured by certain companies to the permanent health fund for higher education and to the use of money in that fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-03 - Referred to Appropriations [HB3704 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB3704-Introduced.html

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85R5468 CJC-D
By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 3704

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the allocation of certain fees on the sale of cigarettes
and cigarette tobacco products manufactured by certain companies to
the permanent health fund for higher education and to the use of
money in that fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 63.001(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The fund is composed of:
(1) money transferred to the fund at the direction of
the legislature;
(2) money deposited to the credit of the fund under
Section 161.611, Health and Safety Code;
(3) gifts and grants contributed to the fund; and
(4) [(3)] the returns received from investment of
money in the fund.
SECTION 2. Sections 63.002(c) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) The amount available for distribution from the fund may
be appropriated only for programs that benefit medical research,
health education, or treatment programs at the following
health-related institutions of higher education, schools, and
colleges:
(1) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
San Antonio;
(2) The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center;
(3) The University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center;
(4) The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston;
(5) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston;
(6) The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Tyler;
(7) The University of Texas Health Science
Center--South Texas and its component institutions, if established
under Subchapter N, Chapter 74;
(8) The Texas A&M University Health Science Center;
(9) the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth;
(10) the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center;
(11) the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
at El Paso; [and]
(12) the Dell Medical School at The University of
Texas at Austin;
(13) the School of Medicine at The University of Texas
Rio Grande Valley;
(14) The University of Texas at Austin College of
Pharmacy;
(15) the Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences;
(16) the University of Houston College of Pharmacy;
and
(17) Baylor College of Medicine, if a contract between
Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board is in effect under Section 61.092.
(d) The governing board of a health-related institution of
higher education, school, or college entitled to receive money
under this subchapter may solicit and accept gifts and grants to the
fund. A gift or grant to the fund shall be appropriated and
distributed and may be used in the same manner as an amount
appropriated under Section 63.003, subject to any limitation or
requirement placed on the gift or grant by the donor or granting
entity.
SECTION 3. Sections 63.003(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The legislature shall appropriate the amount available
for distribution from the fund to the health-related institutions
of higher education, schools, and colleges listed in Section
63.002(c). The amount appropriated shall be distributed as
follows:
(1) 70 percent shall be distributed in equal amounts
to each institution, school, and college; and
(2) the remaining amount shall be distributed in equal
amounts for each of the following categories, with each
institution, school, or college receiving a share in each category
proportionate to the amount that the institution, school, or
college spent in that category in the preceding fiscal biennium as
determined by the institution's, school's, or college's annual
financial report, compared to the total spending of every
institution, school, and college listed in Section 63.002(c) in
that category in the preceding biennium:
(A) instructional expenditures;
(B) research expenditures; and
(C) unsponsored charity care.
(b) The amount appropriated under Subsection (a) shall be
distributed quarterly by the comptroller to each health-related
institution of higher education, school, and college listed in
Section 63.002(c).
(c) The Legislative Budget Board shall make any necessary
determination of each institution's, school's, or college's portion
of an amount appropriated under Subsection (a)(2) and shall provide
that information to the legislature and the comptroller.
SECTION 4. Section 161.601, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 161.601. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is
to:
(1) recover health care costs to the state imposed by
non-settling manufacturers;
(2) prevent non-settling manufacturers from
undermining this state's policy of reducing underage smoking by
offering cigarettes and cigarette tobacco products at prices that
are substantially below the prices of cigarettes and cigarette
tobacco products of other manufacturers;
(3) protect the tobacco settlement agreement and
funding, which has been reduced because of the growth of sales of
non-settling manufacturer cigarettes and cigarette tobacco
products, for programs that are funded wholly or partly by payments
to this state under the tobacco settlement agreement and recoup for
this state settlement payment revenue lost because of sales of
non-settling manufacturer cigarettes and cigarette tobacco
products;
(4) ensure evenhanded treatment of manufacturers and
further protect the tobacco settlement agreement and funding by
imposing a partial payment obligation on non-settling
manufacturers that already make payments on Texas sales under the
master settlement agreement until a credit amendment to that
agreement that will provide those manufacturers with a credit for
payments to Texas is effective; and
(5) provide funding for programs that benefit medical
research, health education, and treatment programs [any purpose the
legislature determines].
SECTION 5. Section 161.611, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 161.611. REVENUE DEPOSITED IN PERMANENT HEALTH FUND
FOR HIGHER EDUCATION [GENERAL REVENUE FUND]. The revenue from the
fees imposed by this subchapter shall be deposited in the state
treasury to the credit of the permanent health fund for higher
education [general revenue fund].
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.