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No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
It is anticipated that the provisions of the bill could be absorbed by the affected agencies within current resources.
According to Travis County, fiscal impact is anticipated to be insignificant to moderate, depending on the scale of an event. Fiscal impact would be based on the duration, number of affected individuals and monitored locations.
According to Dallas County, the cost associated with the 2014 Ebola cases totaled $271,866.53 for operating expenses, including decontamination services, and $120,509 for payroll expenses.
The bill would authorize the governor to declare a state of
infectious disease emergency not to exceed 30 days, if the governor, in
consultation with the commissioner of the Department of State Health Services
(DSHS) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), determine an
infectious disease poses a serious and imminent risk to the health and safety
of the public. In a declared state of infectious disease emergency, the
commissioner of DSHS would be responsible for making all policy, procedural, and
disease control measure decisions necessary to contain the emergency. He or she
would also be required to communicate with and consider input from local health
authorities. TDEM would be required to issue specific statewide preparedness
guidelines and procedures for local health and emergency management
authorities. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission (HHSC) or the director of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) may
adopt rules necessary for carrying out the provisions in Subchapter B-1 of the
Government Code.
The
bill would expand control orders for the detention of persons in a state
of infectious disease emergency. The emergency detention of an individual
subject to a control order may not be detained in custody longer than 48 hours
unless a written court order for further custody or detention is obtained under
Subchapter G of the Health and Safety Code. The HHSC executive commissioner
must specify the manner in which a detained individual is informed of their
individual rights.
The
latter portion of the bill would establish the Task Force on Infectious Disease
Preparedness Response as an advisory panel to the governor and require it to include a representative from one urban and one rural local health authority.
DSHS would be required to create a stockpile of protective equipment to support
responses to infectious diseases.
The
bill would also exempt crematory establishments from civil and criminal
liability for cremating human remains, that present a threat to public health,
without DSHS authorization.
The 2014 Ebola outbreak wreaked havoc at health care facilities and the state and local levels of government. This legislation is designed to address state and local health agency deficiencies by equipping HHSC and TDEM with the necessary protocols to effectively respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.
The authority that would be granted to HHSC and TDEM fits within our view of a legitimate role of government. State intervention would safeguard individual liberty by ensuring unaffected citizens can carry out their daily lives without an undue fear of carriers of an incurable infectious disease from irresponsibly endangering the public.
The bill would also ensure that carriers of rapidly spreading infectious diseases with high mortality rates exercise their responsibility to not wantonly endanger members of the public. We support SB 538.