Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) The committee.
(1) The Public Health Funding and Policy
Committee (committee) shall be appointed under and governed by this
section.
(2) The committee is
established under the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 117, which requires the
Commissioner of the Department of State Health Services (commissioner) to
establish the Public Health Funding and Policy Committee.
(b) Applicable law. The committee is subject
to the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 117, and Government Code, Chapter 2110,
concerning state agency advisory councils.
(c) Purpose. The purpose of the committee is
to provide policy level advice and assistance to the Department of State Health
Services (department) in the organization and funding of local public health in
Texas and the relationship between local public health entities and the
department.
(d) Tasks. As required
by the Health and Safety Code, §
117.101,
the committee shall:
(1) define the core
public health services a local health entity should provide in a county or
municipality;
(2) evaluate public
health in this state and identify initiatives for areas that need
improvement;
(3) identify all
funding sources available for use by local health entities to perform core
public health functions;
(4)
establish public health policy priorities for this state; and
(5) at least annually, make formal
recommendations to the department regarding:
(A) the use and allocation of funds available
exclusively to local health entities to perform core public health
functions;
(B) ways to improve the
overall public health of citizens in this state;
(C) methods for transitioning from a
contractual relationship between the department and the local health entities
to a cooperative-agreement relationship between the department and the local
health entities; and
(D) methods
for fostering a continuous collaborative relationship between the department
and the local health entities.
(6) The committee shall carry out any other
tasks assigned by the commissioner.
(e) Committee abolished. As required by the
Health and Safety Code, §
117.002,
the committee shall be subject to the Texas Sunset Act, Government Code,
Chapter 325. Unless continued in existence as provided by the Government Code,
Chapter 325, the committee is abolished and this section expires September 1,
2023.
(f) Composition. As required
by the Health and Safety Code, §
117.052,
the committee shall be composed of nine members, appointed by the commissioner
to include:
(1) two regional health directors,
each of whom is serving as a health authority in a municipality or
county;
(2) one local health entity
representative of a municipality or county with a population of 50,000 or
less;
(3) one local health entity
representative from a municipality or county with a population greater than
50,000 but less than 250,000;
(4)
one local health entity representative from a municipality or county with a
population of at least 250,000;
(5)
two local health entity representatives, each of whom serves in a municipality
or county as the health authority; and
(6) two representatives of schools of public
health at institutions of higher education in this state.
(g) Terms of Office. As required by the
Health and Safety Code, §
117.053, the term
of office of each member shall be six years.
(1) Committee members serve staggered
six-year terms, with the terms of three members expiring on February 1 of each
odd-numbered year.
(2) If a vacancy
occurs on the committee, a person shall be appointed to fill the vacancy for
the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.
(h) Officers. As required by the
Health and Safety Code, §
117.055, the
committee shall select from its members the presiding officer and an assistant
presiding officer.
(1) The presiding officer
shall serve until December 31 of each even-numbered year. The assistant
presiding officer shall serve until December 31 of each odd-numbered year. Both
the presiding officer and the assistant presiding officer may holdover until
his or her replacement is elected by the committee.
(2) The presiding officer shall preside at
all committee meetings which he or she attends, call meetings in accordance
with this section, appoint subcommittees of the committee as necessary, and
cause proper reports to be made to the council. The presiding officer may serve
as an ex-officio member of any subcommittee of the committee.
(3) If the office of presiding officer or
assistant presiding officer becomes vacant, it may be filled by vote of the
committee.
(4) The committee may
reference its officers by other terms, such as chairperson and
vice-chairperson.
(i)
Meetings. As required by the Health and Safety Code, §
117.056, the committee
shall meet as necessary to conduct committee business.
(1) The committee shall meet at least
quarterly, or more frequently, at the call of the presiding officer.
(2) To ensure appropriate representation from
all areas of this state, the committee may meet by videoconference or telephone
conference call. A meeting held by videoconference or telephone conference call
under this subsection must comply with the requirements applicable to a
telephone conference call under Government Code, §
551.125(c),
(d), (e), and (f). Government Code, §
551.125(b)
and §
551.127 do
not apply to the committee.
(3)
Each member of the committee shall be informed of a committee meeting at least
five working days before the meeting.
(4) A simple majority of the members of the
committee shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting official
business.
(5) The committee is
authorized to transact official business only when in a legally constituted
meeting with a quorum present.
(6)
The agenda for each committee meeting shall include an opportunity for any
person to address the committee on matters relating to committee business. The
presiding officer may establish procedures for such public comment, including a
time limit on each comment.
(j) Attendance. Members shall attend
committee meetings as scheduled. Members and subcommittee members shall attend
meetings of subcommittees to which the members and subcommittee members are
assigned.
(1) A member shall notify the
presiding officer, or appropriate department staff, if he or she is unable to
attend a scheduled meeting.
(2) It
shall be grounds for removal from the committee if a member or subcommittee
member cannot discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the term
for which the member is appointed because of illness or disability, absence
from more than half of the committee and subcommittees meetings during a
calendar year, or absence from at least three consecutive committee
meetings.
(3) The validity of an
action of the committee is not affected by the fact that it is taken when a
ground for removal of a member exists.
(k) Staff. Staff support for the committee
shall be provided by the department. In accordance with the Health and Safety
Code, §
117.104, using
existing personnel and videoconferencing equipment, local health entities, or
their designees, may assist the committee in the performance of its duties
under this section.
(l) Procedures.
Roberts Rules of Order shall be the basis of parliamentary decisions except
where otherwise provided by law or rule.
(1)
Any action taken by the committee must be approved by a majority vote of the
members present once a quorum is established.
(2) Each member shall have one
vote.
(3) A member may not
authorize another individual to represent the member by proxy.
(4) The committee shall make decisions in the
discharge of its duties without discrimination based on any person's race,
creed, gender, religion, national origin, age, physical condition, or economic
status.
(5) Minutes of each
committee meeting shall be taken by department staff.
(A) A draft of the minutes approved by the
presiding officer shall be provided to the council and each member of the
committee within 30 days of each meeting.
(B) After approval by the committee, the
minutes shall be signed by the presiding officer.
(m) Subcommittees. The committee
may establish subcommittees as necessary to assist the committee in carrying
out its duties.
(1) The presiding officer
shall appoint members of the committee to serve on subcommittees and to act as
subcommittee chairpersons. The presiding officer also may appoint nonmembers of
the committee to serve on subcommittees, subject to the approval of the
commissioner.
(2) Subcommittees
shall meet when called by the subcommittee chairperson or when so directed by
the committee.
(3) A subcommittee
chairperson shall make regular reports to the committee at each committee
meeting or in interim written reports as needed. The reports shall include an
executive summary or minutes of each subcommittee meeting.
(n) Statement by members.
(1) The Health and Human Services Commission
(commission), the State Health Services Council (council), the department, and
the committee shall not be bound in any way by any statement or action on the
part of any committee member or subcommittee member except when a statement or
action is in pursuit of specific instructions from the commission, council,
department, or committee.
(2) The
committee and its members or subcommittee members may not participate in
legislative activity in the name of the commission, the council, the
department, or the committee except with approval through the department's
legislative process. Committee members are not prohibited from representing
themselves or other entities in the legislative process.
(3) A committee member or subcommittee member
should not accept or solicit any benefit that might reasonably tend to
influence the member in the discharge of the member's official
duties.
(4) A committee member or
subcommittee member should not disclose confidential information acquired
through his or her committee membership.
(5) A committee member or subcommittee member
should not knowingly solicit, accept, or agree to accept any benefit for having
exercised the member's official powers or duties in favor of another
person.
(6) A committee member or
subcommittee member who has a personal or private interest in a matter pending
before the committee shall publicly disclose the fact in a committee meeting
and may not vote or otherwise participate in the matter. The phrase "personal
or private interest" means the committee member has a direct pecuniary interest
in the matter, but does not include the committee member's engagement in a
profession, trade, or occupation when the member's interest is the same as all
others similarly engaged in the profession, trade, or occupation.
(o) Reports to department. The
committee shall file an annual written report with the department.
(1) The report shall list the meeting dates
of the committee and any subcommittees, the attendance records of its members,
a brief description of actions taken by the committee, a description of how the
committee has accomplished the tasks given to the committee by the council, the
status of any rules which were recommended by the committee to the council, and
anticipated activities of the committee for the next year.
(2) The report shall identify all costs
related to the committee's existence, including the cost of agency staff time
spent in support of the committee's activities and the source of funds used to
support the committee's activities.
(3) The report shall cover the meetings and
activities in the immediately preceding fiscal year and shall be filed with the
council each January. The report shall be signed by the presiding
officer.
(p) In
accordance with the Health and Safety Code, § 117.1033, beginning in 2012,
not later than November 30 of each year the committee shall file a report on
the implementation of the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 117 with the
governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives.
(q) Reimbursement
for expenses. In accordance with the Health and Safety Code, §
117.054,
a committee member is not entitled to compensation for service on the committee
and is not entitled to reimbursement for any travel expenses.
