Bill Text: TX SB1226 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of an employment-first policy and task force to promote competitive employment opportunities that provide a living wage for individuals with disabilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective immediately [SB1226 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB1226-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of an employment-first policy and task force to promote competitive employment opportunities that provide a living wage for individuals with disabilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective immediately [SB1226 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB1226-Comm_Sub.html
By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 1226 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2013; March 13, 2013, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; | ||
April 8, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 8, 2013, | ||
sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1226 | By: Zaffirini |
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relating to the establishment of an employment-first policy and | ||
task force to promote competitive employment opportunities that | ||
provide a living wage for individuals with disabilities. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 531.02447 and 531.02448 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 531.02447. EMPLOYMENT-FIRST POLICY. (a) It is the | ||
policy of the state that earning a living wage through competitive | ||
employment in the general workforce is the priority and preferred | ||
outcome for working-age individuals with disabilities who receive | ||
public benefits. | ||
(b) The commission, the Texas Education Agency, and the | ||
Texas Workforce Commission shall jointly adopt and implement an | ||
employment-first policy in accordance with the state's policy under | ||
Subsection (a). The policy must: | ||
(1) affirm that an individual with a disability is | ||
able to meet the same employment standards as an individual who does | ||
not have a disability; | ||
(2) ensure that all working-age individuals with | ||
disabilities, including young adults, are offered factual | ||
information regarding employment as an individual with a | ||
disability, including the relationship between an individual's | ||
earned income and the individual's public benefits; | ||
(3) ensure that individuals with disabilities are | ||
given the opportunity to understand and explore options for | ||
education or training, including postsecondary, graduate, and | ||
postgraduate education, vocational or technical training, or other | ||
training, as pathways to employment; | ||
(4) promote the availability and accessibility of | ||
individualized training designed to prepare an individual with a | ||
disability for the individual's preferred employment; | ||
(5) promote partnerships with employers to overcome | ||
barriers to meeting workforce needs with the creative use of | ||
technology and innovation; | ||
(6) ensure that the staff of public schools, | ||
vocational service programs, and community providers are trained | ||
and supported to assist in achieving the goal of competitive | ||
employment for all individuals with disabilities; and | ||
(7) ensure that competitive employment, while being | ||
the priority and preferred outcome, is not required of an | ||
individual with a disability to secure or maintain public benefits | ||
for which the individual is otherwise eligible. | ||
Sec. 531.02448. EMPLOYMENT-FIRST TASK FORCE. (a) The | ||
executive commissioner shall establish an interagency | ||
employment-first task force, or may use an existing committee or | ||
task force, to promote competitive employment of individuals with | ||
disabilities and the expectation that individuals with | ||
disabilities are able to meet the same employment standards, | ||
responsibilities, and expectations as any other working-age adult. | ||
(b) If the executive commissioner establishes a task force | ||
for the purposes described by Subsection (a), the executive | ||
commissioner shall determine the number of members on the task | ||
force. The executive commissioner shall appoint at least the | ||
following as members, subject to Subsection (e): | ||
(1) an individual with a disability; | ||
(2) a family member of an individual with a | ||
disability; | ||
(3) a representative of the commission; | ||
(4) a representative of the Department of Assistive | ||
and Rehabilitative Services; | ||
(5) a representative of the Department of State Health | ||
Services; | ||
(6) a representative of the Department of Aging and | ||
Disability Services; | ||
(7) a representative of the Department of Family and | ||
Protective Services; | ||
(8) a representative of the Texas Workforce | ||
Commission; | ||
(9) a representative of the Texas Education Agency; | ||
(10) an advocate for individuals with disabilities; | ||
and | ||
(11) a representative of a provider of integrated and | ||
competitive employment services. | ||
(c) A member of a task force established under this section | ||
serves at the will of the executive commissioner. | ||
(d) The executive commissioner shall designate a member of a | ||
task force established under this section to serve as presiding | ||
officer. | ||
(e) At least one-third of a task force established under | ||
this section must be composed of individuals with disabilities, and | ||
no more than one-third of the task force may be composed of | ||
advocates for individuals with disabilities. | ||
(f) A task force established under this section or an | ||
existing committee or task force used for purposes of this section | ||
shall: | ||
(1) design an education and outreach process targeted | ||
at working-age individuals with disabilities, including young | ||
adults with disabilities, the families of those individuals, the | ||
state agencies listed in Subsection (b), and service providers, | ||
that is aimed at raising expectations of the success of individuals | ||
with disabilities in integrated, individualized, and competitive | ||
employment; | ||
(2) develop recommendations for policy, procedure, | ||
and rules changes that are necessary to allow the employment-first | ||
policy described under Section 531.02447(b) to be fully | ||
implemented; and | ||
(3) not later than September 1 of each even-numbered | ||
year, prepare and submit to the office of the governor, the | ||
legislature, and the executive commissioner a report regarding the | ||
task force's findings and recommendations, including: | ||
(A) information that reflects the potential and | ||
actual impact of the employment-first policy on the employment | ||
outcomes for individuals with disabilities; and | ||
(B) recommendations for improvement of | ||
employment services and outcomes, including employment rates, for | ||
individuals with disabilities based on the reported impact of an | ||
employment-first policy under Paragraph (A) that may include: | ||
(i) recommendations relating to using any | ||
savings to the state resulting from the implementation of the | ||
employment-first policy to further improve the services and | ||
outcomes; and | ||
(ii) recommendations developed under | ||
Subdivision (2) regarding necessary policy, procedure, and rules | ||
changes. | ||
(g) A member of a task force established under this section | ||
is not entitled to compensation. Members may be reimbursed for | ||
expenses as follows: | ||
(1) a member described by Subsection (b)(1) or (2) is | ||
entitled to reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses | ||
as provided in the General Appropriations Act; | ||
(2) a member appointed as a representative of a state | ||
agency is eligible for reimbursement for travel and other necessary | ||
expenses according to the applicable agency's policies; and | ||
(3) a member described by Subsection (b)(10) or (11) | ||
is entitled to reimbursement for travel and other necessary | ||
expenses to be paid equally out of available money appropriated to | ||
the commission and to health and human services agencies. | ||
(h) The commission and the health and human services | ||
agencies shall provide administrative support and staff to a task | ||
force established under this section. | ||
(i) The executive commissioner, the commissioner of | ||
education, and the Texas Workforce Commission shall evaluate | ||
recommendations made by a task force or committee under this | ||
section and adopt rules as necessary that are consistent with the | ||
employment-first policy adopted under Section 531.02447. | ||
(j) This section expires September 1, 2017. | ||
SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2014, the executive | ||
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall | ||
appoint the members of the employment-first task force under | ||
Section 531.02448, Government Code, as added by this Act, if the | ||
executive commissioner establishes a task force under that section. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2013. | ||
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