Text of TX HB 1608 (2021)

87R6456 MM-F By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 1608 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the categorization, collection, and publication of certain demographic and other information pertaining to certain public benefits programs. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by adding Sections 531.0316 and 531.03161 to read as follows: Sec. 531.0316. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA. (a) 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: (1) 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: (A) the category of Hispanic or Latino with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Argentinian; (ii) Colombian; (iii) Cuban; (iv) Dominican (Dominican Republic); (v) Ecuadoran; (vi) Guatemalan; (vii) Honduran; (viii) Mexican; (ix) Nicaraguan; (x) Panamanian; (xi) Peruvian; (xii) Puerto Rican; (xiii) Salvadoran; (xiv) Spaniard; (xv) Venezuelan; and (xvi) another subcategory written in by the individual; (B) the category of African American with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Black American (born in the United States with African ancestry); (ii) African diaspora (born outside the United States with African origins); and (iii) another subcategory written in by the individual; (C) the category of Native American with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Apache; (ii) Cherokee; (iii) Chickasaw; (iv) Choctaw; (v) Mexican American Indian; (vi) Navajo; and (vii) another subcategory written in by the individual; (D) the category of Pacific Islander with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Chamorro; (ii) Guamanian; (iii) Marshallese; (iv) Native Hawaiian; (v) Samoan; (vi) Tongan; and (vii) another subcategory written in by the individual; (E) the category of Asian with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Indian; (ii) Bangladeshi; (iii) Burmese; (iv) Cambodian; (v) Chinese (except Taiwanese); (vi) Filipino; (vii) Iranian; (viii) Japanese; (ix) Korean; (x) Laotian; (xi) Nepalese; (xii) Pakistani; (xiii) Taiwanese; (xiv) Thai; (xv) Vietnamese; and (xvi) another subcategory written in by the individual; and (F) the category of Middle Eastern and North African with the option to select or identify the following subcategories: (i) Egyptian; (ii) Iraqi; (iii) Jordanian; (iv) Lebanese; (v) Palestinian; (vi) Syrian; and (vii) another subcategory written in by the individual; (2) the sex or gender of an individual, ask the following questions: (A) "What is your current gender identity?" and, in response to the question, provide the individual the option to select or identify as: (i) female; (ii) intersex; (iii) male; (iv) nonbinary; (v) transgender female; (vi) transgender male; and (vii) another sex or gender written in by the individual; and (B) "What sex were you assigned on your original birth certificate or other legal document confirming birth?" and, in response to the question, provide the individual the option to select: (i) female; (ii) male; (iii) "I was not assigned a sex at birth"; or (iv) "I was not issued a birth certificate or other legal document confirming my birth"; and (3) more than one demographic category, include the sexual orientation of an individual as a category and provide the individual with the option to select or identify as: (A) asexual; (B) bisexual; (C) gay; (D) heterosexual; (E) lesbian; (F) pansexual; and (G) another sexual orientation written in by the individual. (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 select more than one category for race or ethnic origin and more than one subcategory for race or ethnic origin. (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. 531.03161. 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 531.0316, including data related to the race or ethnic origin, sex or gender, and sexual orientation of individuals. The analysis conducted under this subsection must consider subcategories and suboptions. (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 531.0316. The metric data published under this section must be organized by category and then by subcategory or suboption, 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 December 1, 2022, the Health and Human Services Commission shall publish on its Internet website the metric data required under Section 531.03161(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, 2021.