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LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP

“This will allow [DSHS] to address a variety of issues, including
support of their lab, tuberculosis control, and extra funding to ad-
dress maternal mortality and morbidity in Texas,” he said.

Maternal Health Roadblock
One setback for TMA’s public health agenda: preventing maternal
illness. TMA advocated for extending Medicaid eligibility for new
mothers from the current 60 days to 365 days. While the Texas Leg-
islature did not fund this reform, it did approve Senate Bill 750
(Kolkhorst), which directs the Texas Health and Human Services
Commission (HHSC) to look for other ways to extend coverage
through the Healthy Texas Women program.
Also, House Bill 253 (Farrar) directs HHSC to develop a five-year
plan to address postpartum screening and depression, and Senate
Bill 749 (Kolkhorst) establishes level-of-care designations for hos-
pitals that provide maternal and neonatal care.
Similarly, there was little movement on childhood vaccines policy.
Neither pro-vaccine groups like TMA nor anti-vaccine groups were
able to advance their agendas. However, TMA did enjoy success on
adult vaccine measures, garnering support for more vaccine infor-
mation and tracking for first responders in House bills 1418 and
1256 (Phelan).
Texas also built on recent gains in mental health by funding fur-
ther construction on state mental health facilities in Austin, Rusk,
and San Antonio. Also, Senate Bill 11 (Taylor), which is designed to
improve school safety, establishes a state Child Psychiatry Access
Network, giving pediatricians and other primary care physicians
ready access to a greater range of psychiatrists and other licensed
behavioral health professionals.
The legislature also passed bills designed to fight obesity. Senate
Bill 952 (Watson) requires that child care facilities’ physical activity,
nutrition, and screen time rules comply with science-based stan-
dards. Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed House Bill 455 (Allen), which
would have directed school districts to adopt recess policies.
The governor said the bill had “good intentions” but was “just
bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake.”
Likewise, the governor vetoed House Bill 448 (C. Turner), which
would have required people to transport a child younger than 2 in a
rear-facing car seat unless the child met certain height and weight
thresholds. The governor said the bill was “an unnecessary invasion
of parental rights and an unfortunate example of overcriminalization.”

GME Growth Plan Adopted
Medical education made some gains in the 2019 legislative ses-
sion, including the statutory approval of two new medical schools
– the University of Houston College of Medicine in Houston and
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