Vo Bill Gives Agencies Until 2028 To Post Benefits Data

The text as introduced · 1,250 words

89R9309 LRM-F

By: Vo
H.B. No. 5242

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of

demographic and other information pertaining to certain public

benefits programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 526, Government Code, as

effective April 1, 2025, is amended by adding Sections 526.0011 and

526.0012 to read as follows:

Sec. 526.0011. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a)

Subject to Subsection (e) and notwithstanding any other law, if the

commission or a health and human services agency collects the

demographic data of individuals who receive benefits under a health

benefits program administered by the commission or agency, as

applicable, the commission or agency, as applicable, shall, when

collecting data relating to the race or ethnic origin of an

individual, provide the individual the option to select or identify

appropriate categories and subcategories of race and ethnic origin,

including:

(1) American Indian or Alaska Native, with a write-in

box to state the specific group with which the person identifies,

such as Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian

Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat

Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, Maya, or any

other subcategory with which the person identifies;

(2) Asian, including the following subcategories:

(A) Asian Indian;

(B) Chinese;

(C) Filipino;

(D) Korean;

(E) Pakistani;

(F) Vietnamese; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

Asian subcategory with which the person identifies, such as Hmong,

Afghan, or Japanese;

(3) Black or African American, including the following

subcategories:

(A) African American;

(B) Ethiopian;

(C) Haitian;

(D) Jamaican;

(E) Nigerian;

(F) Somali; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

Black or African American subcategory with which the person

identifies, such as Trinidadian, Tobagonian, Ghanian, or

Congolese;

(4) Hispanic or Latino, including the following

subcategories:

(A) Cuban;

(B) Dominican;

(C) Guatemalan;

(D) Mexican;

(E) Puerto Rican;

(F) Salvadoran; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

Hispanic or Latino subcategory with which the person identifies,

such as Colombian, Honduran, or Spaniard;

(5) Middle Eastern or North African, including the

following subcategories:

(A) Egyptian;

(B) Iranian;

(C) Iraqi;

(D) Israeli;

(E) Lebanese;

(F) Syrian; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

Middle Eastern or North African subcategory with which the person

identifies, such as Moroccan, Yemeni, or Kurdish;

(6) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, including the

following subcategories:

(A) Chamorro;

(B) Fijian;

(C) Marshallese;

(D) Native Hawaiian;

(E) Samoan;

(F) Tongan; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander subcategory with which the

person identifies, such as Chuukese, Palauan, or Tahitian; and

(7) White, including the following subcategories:

(A) English;

(B) German;

(C) Irish;

(D) Italian;

(E) Polish;

(F) Scottish; and

(G) other, with a write-in box to state any other

White subcategory with which the person identifies, such as French,

Swedish, or Norwegian.

(b) The commission shall ensure that each local entity,

including a local governmental entity, responsible for providing

demographic data to the commission or a health and human services

agency in connection with a public benefits program administered by

the commission or agency, as applicable, provides the data in the

manner prescribed by this section.

(c) In collecting demographic data, the commission and each

health and human services agency shall provide individuals from

whom the data is sought the option to:

(1) select more than one category for race or ethnic

origin;

(2) select more than one subcategory for race or

ethnic origin; and

(3) write in a race or ethnic origin not listed.

(d) The provision of demographic data under this section by

an individual is voluntary.

(e) Not later than the first anniversary of the date the

federal decennial census is published, the commission shall update

the subcategories of race or ethnic origin to include only the

subcategories with populations larger than 7,500 as published by

the United States Census Bureau, except that each category must

include at least the six largest subcategories.

(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary

to implement this section.

Sec. 526.0012. COLLECTION AND CROSS-TABULATION ANALYSIS OF

CERTAIN DATA; PUBLICATION. (a) The commission and each health and

human services agency that administers a public benefits program

shall collect the following data regarding individuals who receive,

or were receiving at the time of the individual's death, benefits

under a program:

(1) the individual's level of English proficiency; and

(2) whether the individual:

(A) has a disability;

(B) has health benefits coverage;

(C) has been diagnosed with a chronic condition,

including cancer, obesity, diabetes, or asthma;

(D) has access to health care, including

preventive care services;

(E) has a diagnosed mental health disorder;

(F) is or has been pregnant;

(G) died as a result of a pregnancy-related

cause; and

(H) had a child who died as an infant.

(b) To the extent permitted by federal law and if requested

by the commission, a local entity, including a local governmental

entity, responsible for providing demographic data to the

commission or a health and human services agency in connection with

a public benefits program administered by the commission or agency,

as applicable, shall report to the commission the data described by

Subsection (a) to the extent that data is known or obtainable by the

entity.

(c) The commission shall prepare a cross-tabulation

analysis of the data described by Subsection (a) and the

demographic data collected under Section 526.0011. The analysis

conducted under this subsection must consider subcategories,

including those provided by individuals as a write-in option.

(d) Subject to Subsection (f) and to the extent permitted by

federal law, the commission shall make available to the public on

its Internet website in an easy-to-read format metric data obtained

as the result of the cross-tabulation analysis conducted under this

section and organized by the demographic data collected in

accordance with Section 526.0011. The metric data published under

this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory,

including those provided by individuals as a write-in option, as

applicable.

(e) The commission shall annually update the metric data

published under Subsection (d).

(f) The storage and communication of data under this section

must comply with existing federal and state privacy laws governing

individually identifiable information. Data made available to the

public under this section may not identify or allow for the

identification of individuals.

(g) This section does not prevent a state agency from

posting demographic data collected by the agency on the agency's

Internet website.

(h) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary

to implement this section.

SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2028:

(1) the Health and Human Services Commission and each

health and human services agency to which Sections 526.0011 and

526.0012, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply shall revise

the commission's or agency's data collection and reporting

standards and forms as necessary to comply with those sections; and

(2) the Health and Human Services Commission shall

publish on its Internet website the metric data required under

Section 526.0012(d), Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act

a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a

federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,

the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or

authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the

waiver or authorization is granted.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.