HBA-MPM, MPA H.B. 962 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 962 By: Jones, Delwin County Affairs 9/14/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Lubbock County Hospital District owns and operates a hospital that is a teaching facility for Texas Tech Medical School, and which also operates as a charity hospital offering indigent care. H.B. 962 provides that before this facility can be sold or leased to another party a vote of the people in the district will be required. 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 Section 10, Chapter 484, Acts of the 60th Legislature, Regular Session, 1967, to make a conforming change, relative to SECTION 2 of this bill. SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 484, Acts of the 60th Legislature, Regular Session, 1967, by adding Section 10A, as follows: Sec. 10A. SALE OR LEASE OF CERTAIN FACILITY; ELECTION; DISCLOSURE. (a) Defines "hospital official" and "substantial interest" for purposes of this section. (b) Authorizes the board of managers of the Lubbock County Hospital District (board), by resolution and with the approval of the commissioners court, to order the sale or lease of a facility owned and operated by the hospital district as a teaching hospital located on the campus of Texas Tech University, contingent on certain disclosure requirements under this section and voter approval in an election called and held for that purpose. Provides that the resolution must include a finding by the board that the sale or lease is in the best interests of the residents of the hospital district and that no hospital official will benefit financially from its sale or lease other than from the continuation of a compensation package existing prior to the date of the sale or lease. Requires the Commissioners Court of Lubbock County to order the election as soon as possible after adoption of the board's resolution regarding the sale or lease of the facility. (c) Requires that the election be held on the first authorized uniform election date that occurs after the 45th day after the date the election is ordered. (d) Requires the ballot to be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition and provides model language. (e) Authorizes the board's chairman to disclose no later than the 30th day before the election, the terms of the proposed sale or lease of a facility described by this section. Provides that the disclosure must include oral and written agreements relating to the sale or lease. (f) Requires a board member or a hospital official to disclose any financial interest that the person has in the sale or lease of a facility described by this section no later than the 30th day before the date of an election held under this section. Provides circumstances under which a person has a financial interest in the sale or lease of said facility. (g) Requires a person to make a disclosure required under Subsection (e) or (f) of this section by filing the disclosure with the Commissioners Court of Lubbock County and the board. Provides that this disclosure is a public record. (h) Specifies that a person required to make a disclosure under Subsection (f) of this section commits a Class A misdemeanor if the person knowingly fails to make it within the prescribed period. (i) Requires the Commissioners Court of Lubbock County to cancel an election ordered under this section if a hospital official makes a disclosure of financial interest in the sale or lease of a facility under subsections (f) and (g) of this section at any time before the election date. (j) Authorizes the board to sell or lease the facility only under certain conditions relating to disclosure procedure and voter approval. (k) Provides that a disclosure made after the date the sale or lease of the facility occurs does not invalidate the sale or lease. (l) Prohibits another election on the sale or lease of the facility from being held within one year of the election, if the majority of votes cast at the previous election did not support that action. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.