88(R) SB 804 - Introduced version - Bill Text

	88R6931 MM-D
	By:  Schwertner	S.B.  No.  804

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to eligibility requirements for student loan repayment
	assistance for certain mental health professionals.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Section 61.603, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec.  61.603.    ELIGIBILITY. (a) Except as provided by
	Subsection (b), to [To] be eligible to receive repayment assistance
	under this subchapter, a mental health professional must:
	(1)    apply to the board;
	(2)    have completed one, two, three, four, or five
	consecutive years of practice in a mental health professional
	shortage area designated by the Department of State Health
	Services; and
	(3)    provide mental health services in this state to:
	(A)    recipients under the medical assistance
	program authorized by Chapter 32, Human Resources Code;
	(B)    enrollees under the child health plan program
	authorized by Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code; or
	(C)    persons committed to a secure correctional
	facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile
	Justice Department or persons confined in a secure correctional
	facility operated by or under contract with any division of the
	Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
	(b)    A mental health professional may also establish
	eligibility for the repayment assistance under this subchapter by
	satisfying the requirements of this subsection.  To establish
	eligibility under this subsection, the mental health professional
	must:
	(1)    apply to the board;
	(2)    provide mental health services to:
	(A)    patients in a state hospital, as defined by
	Section 552.0011, Health and Safety Code; or
	(B)    individuals receiving community-based mental
	health services from a local mental health authority that provides
	the services in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 534, Health
	and Safety Code; and
	(3)    have completed one, two, three, four, or five
	consecutive years of practice in this state as described by
	Subdivision (2).
	(c)    In addition to satisfying the requirements under
	Subsection (a) or (b), for a licensed physician to be eligible to
	receive repayment assistance under this subchapter after the
	physician's third consecutive year of practice described under
	Subsection (a)(2) or (b)(3), as applicable, the physician must be
	certified in psychiatry by:
	(1)    the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; or
	(2)    the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and
	Psychiatry.
	SECTION  2.    The change in law made by this Act to Section
	61.603, Education Code, applies only to a person who first
	establishes eligibility for loan repayment assistance under
	Subchapter K, Chapter 61, Education Code, as amended by this Act, on
	the basis of an application submitted on or after September 1, 2023.
	A person who first establishes eligibility on the basis of an
	application submitted before September 1, 2023, is governed by the
	law in effect on the date the application was submitted, and the
	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION  3.    This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.