HBA-TYH H.B. 541 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 541 By: Maxey Ways & Means 3/16/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC) was established in 1983 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It serves and represents 32 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in Texas and has been designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the Primary Care Association for the state. In 1997, TACHC member centers provided health care services to over 415,000 Texans, approximately 237,000 of whom were uninsured. The primary goal of TACHC is to provide for the advancement of high quality ambulatory health care to medically underserved populations. TACHC provides a variety of services, training, and technical assistance in areas pertaining to the administration and maintenance of a health center. H.B. 541 provides for property tax exemptions to associations that provide assistance to ambulatory care facilities and that meet the criteria for a charitable organization. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Tax Code, by adding Section 11.183, as follows: Sec. 11.183. ASSOCIATION PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO AMBULATORY HEALTH CARE CENTERS. (a) Entitles an association to an exemption from taxation of the property it owns and uses exclusively for the purposes for which the association is organized if the association: (1) is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(a) (Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization described by Section 501(c)(3) of that code; (2) complies with criteria for a charitable organization under Sections 11.18(e) and (f) (Charitable Organizations); (3) engages exclusively in assistance to ambulatory health care centers providing medical care to individuals regardless of the individuals' ability to pay, except as provided by Subsection (b); and (4) is funded wholly or partly, or assists ambulatory health care centers that are funded wholly or partly, by a grant under Section 329, 330, or 340, Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Section 254b, 254c, or 256) (which authorize grants to health services such as outreach networks, for-profit entities approved by a grantee of a nonprofit entity, telemedicine networks, and health centers for the medically underserved population of migratory and seasonal agricultural workers, the homeless, and public housing residents). (b) Provides that use of the property by a person other than the association does not affect the property's eligibility for an authorized exemption if the use is incidental to use by the association and limited to activities benefitting either the ambulatory health care centers that the association assists or the individuals to whom the health care centers provide medical care. (c) Provides that performance of noncharitable functions by the association does not affect the property's eligibility for an authorized exemption if those other functions are incidental to the association's charitable functions. SECTION 2. Amends Section 11.43(c), Tax Code, to include Section 11.183 in a list of sections for which exemption of this code, once allowed, need not be claimed in subsequent years. SECTION 3. Effective date: January 1, 2000. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.