GOOD BILL THAT NEEDS TO BE APPROVED BY BOTH HOUSES:
ACTION ALERT CSSB 439 by Deuell attempts to correct legislation which allows medical providors to withdraw patients from life support over the objection of their families and prior to decisions by ethics or medical review committees. The bill was placed on the Senate Intent Calendar on May 10th. It needs to be passed and go to the house. This is a life and death matter which could impact any Texan if left unaddressed.
BACKGROUND ON THE BILL: Author’s Intent:
Currently, if a physician refuses to honor an advance directive or treatment decision, the physician's decision must be reviewed by an ethics or medical committee, during which time life-sustaining treatment is required to be provided to the patient. Some hospitals are withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from patients before they can be transferred to an alternative facility, often resulting in their death.
C.S.S.B. 439 requires life-sustaining treatment to continue to be provided to the patient until the patient's transfer to another facility is complete and the facility from which the patient is being transferred is required to provide a list of facilities, maintained by the Department of State Health Services, that have volunteered their readiness to accept transfers. The bill ensures the rights of patients and their families in deciding to accept or reject life-sustaining treatment, seeks to improve the doctor-patient relationship, allows doctors to refuse to continue a treatment that conflicts with their personal code of ethics, strengthens the power and legitimacy of advanced directives, and promotes the public's trust in hospitals.
History and Status of Bill:
Text of Bill
Texas Senate Contact Information
Texas House Contact Information
ISSUES BEFORE THE TEXAS HOUSE:
GOOD BILLS:
S.B. 1667 – Good Bill – Relating to the amount of an administrative penalty assessed by the Railroad Commission of Texas for a violation of the Texas Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act or a permit issued under that act. Has passed the Senate and was placed on the General State Calendar in the Texas House on May 14th.
Current law sets the maximum penalty fee for a violation of a mining permit at $5,000. The Railroad Commission of Texas recommends increasing the maximum penalty for a violation of the Texas Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act to reflect the impact of inflation since the fee was established in the 1970s.
As proposed, S.B. 1667 increases the maximum penalty from $5,000 to $10,000 for a violation of coal mining and reclamation operations or underground mining operations permit.
History and Status of Bill
Text of Bill
Texas House Contact Information
Good Bill: C.S.S.B. 199 Has passed the Senate and was placed on the General State Calendar of the Texas House for May 15, 2007.
Currently, a number of convictions for violent criminal offenses do not bar a person from being employed as a home care attendant. Current law provides a list of hiring prohibitions that prevent a person of certain criminal offenses from being employed to care for certain elderly or persons with disabilities.
As proposed, C.S.S.B. 199 adds to the list of offenses that preclude a person from being employed to care for the elderly or disabled.
History of Bill
Text of Bill
Texas House Contact Information
SB 64 -Good Bill passed by Senate, placed on General Calendar of House on May 14th.
Zaffirini’s bill tightens the campaign finance reporting rules.
History and Status of Bill
Text of Bill
Texas House Contact Information
ISSUES BEFORE THE TEXAS SENATE:
GOOD BILLS:
H.B. 2660 Has been passed by the House and has been received in the Senate. Relating to the use of money from the Texas economic development bank fund for rural rail development atttempts to address some funding issues for Rail initiatives approved in previous sessions of the Legislature
Pursuant to Chapter 91, Transportation Code, the authority to create rural rail districts is granted.
The establishment of rural rail districts (who may own facilities and railways) were authorized under provisions of Chapter 623, Acts of the 67th Legislature, Regular Session, 1981 (Article 6550c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). However, no state funding has been provided to assist in the initial creation of said rural rail districts.
H.B. 2660 will authorize funding to provide, as start up money, for the creation of such rail districts. These powers were authorized to the Texas Department of Transportation (department) under the afore mentioned authority, but funding to assist these local districts has never been provided by the state of Texas.
History and Status of Bill
DANGEROUS BILLS:
Dangerous Bill Alert: HB 2564 was passed by the Texas House and was received by the Texas Senate on May 14th. Many governmental watchdog groups, non-profit groups, and journalist argue that language in this bill could restrict the public’s timely access to information. Previous law allowed citizen examination of unlimited amounts of information and only charged for photocopies. Citizens access for examination of information is curtailed by language in this bill.
History of Bill
Text of Bill
Texas Senate Contact Information
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