Latest news with #HB18
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rural healthcare bill considered by Texas House Committee
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – The Texas House Public Health Committee met Monday morning to discuss a bill that aims to make sure rural Texans have access to hospital and health care services. House Bill 18, known as The Rural Health Stabilization and Innovation Act, provides a comprehensive plan for ensuring that rural Texans receive adequate medical care. The committee heard from the bill's author, Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, as well as numerous stakeholders. 'Members, there are Texans who do not currently have access to hospitals and health care services that the majority of us take for granted,' VanDeaver said. 'We have the opportunity this session to change that.' VanDeaver said nine of the 13 members of the Public Health Committee come from urban areas with a total of 202 hospitals. The four representatives from rural areas make up 28 counties with only 30 hospitals in the entire area, nine of which have no hospitals at all. The lack of resources in these areas is what moved VanDeaver to file HB 18. Freddy Olivarez, CEO of the Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa, told the committee that his rural hospital struggled to make payroll in September 2024. He said an existing grant program played a large role in allowing the hospital to maintain operations. 'We were facing looking at being the next Texas hospital closed, so that was this grant funding that Chairman VanDeaver—it's amazing for us,' Olivarez said. 'This is what's kept us open right now.' Llano County is fighting to save rural healthcare The bill's strategic initiatives include: The creation of a new State Office of Rural Hospital Finance. The office will create a strategy to ensure that hospitals have the necessary resources to support their patients, create a financial vulnerability index and provide technical assistance to these areas if necessary. The establishment the Texas Rural Hospital Officers Academy. The Academy will offer at least 100 hours of coursework annually related to technical training on matters that impact the financial stability of rural hospitals. The construction a grant program for rural hospitals composed of four grants: The Financial Stabilization Grant: to support the financial stability of hospitals at a moderate or high risk of instability based on their vulnerability index. Emergency Hardship Grant: for hospitals that have experienced a man-made or natural disaster or unforeseen circumstances that might result in facility closures or failure to meet payroll. Innovation Grant: to improve rural facilities and services for pregnant women or women who have recently given birth, individuals under the age of 20, older adults or individuals who are uninsured. Rural Hospital Support Grant: to improve the financial stability and support the long term viability of rural hospitals. Additions to the Health and Safety Code for the new Rural Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program to use telehealth services to identify and assess pediatric patients seeking mental and behavioral health needs. The bill defines a rural community of having a population of 68,750 or less, making 156 Texas counties eligible for these services. Representatives questioned stakeholders on whether the bill's current language is expansive enough to address all issues affecting rural hospitals. 'What is the problem? I think it's a good bill trying to address it, but I'm worried it's not gonna go far enough,' Rep. John Bucy, D-Austin, asked Victoria Grady, who testified as a resource witness from the Health and Human Services Commission. 'I think one of the things that's really important to note about rural communities is they don't want us in their business, and they would like to solve their own problems. And so part of the challenge is having those facilities feel comfortable and confident that they can access resources early on when they're having trouble,' Grady said. She added, 'As much as we're glad to give emergency hardship grants, we really don't want them coming to us at that point.' Rural providers, advocates create plan for Texas Legislature to 'rescue' maternity care system Grady also discussed a variety of issues that affect rural hospitals such as outdated infrastructure, inability to obtain viable equipment, uncompensated care, and complexity when submitting for reimbursement on supplemental payments. The bill was left pending as discussions with stakeholders continue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Bill to update vehicle safety guidelines for children fails on House floor
Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, sits on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on May 9, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. His bill to update car seat regulations failed on the House floor on Feb. 27, 2025. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would update safety regulations for children in vehicles for the first time in almost 20 years failed on the House floor on Thursday. HB 18, sponsored by Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, requires 2-year-old children who are 35 pounds and lighter to be in rear-facing car seats, which is an increase from 20 pounds. The bill received bipartisan pushback. Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, expressed concern about a 2-year-old fitting in a rear-facing car seat. 'Their legs may not fit in the car seat,' she said. 'A 2-year-old, usually, if they can look around, distract and learn, there's a really good thing about learning from that environment and just looking out. Facing the back of that seat … I just have concerns with this bill.' Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile, read a text from a constituent that expressed similar concerns. ''One- and 2-year-olds do not want to be staring at a seat,'' she read. ''They look out the windows when riding forward and observe everything, which is part of their learning.'' The legislation also requires children under five who weigh 65 pounds or less to be in convertible car seats, which is an increase from 40 pounds. Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, talked about her 4-year-old nephew that has long legs and would not fit in a convertible car seat. 'Facing the seat could be a problem,' Hollis said. Bolton said the American Academy of Pediatrics expressed concern about Alabama's outdated regulations because the average weight of children has increased in the last 20 years. He said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Children's Hospital, VOICES of Alabama Children and Safe Kids Alabama advocated for the legislation in order to comply with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standards. 'They're seeing an increase in the weight of the children, and that's what prompted NHTSA to actually change their standards and update them,' Bolton said. Request for comment from the Alabama Department of Public Health and ALEA was sent Thursday afternoon. Bolton said he'd try to compromise with the members opposed to the bill, but it is unlikely the legislation will come back this session. 'I'm gonna try to work with them, see if we can find some kind of accommodation,' Bolton said in an interview.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks Texas SCOPE law keeping kids from ‘democratic exchange of views online'
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A federal judge blocked enforcement of a Texas law that he found to restrict Texas minors' First Amendment rights, calling into question Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's claims that the law protects minors from content he calls 'harmful.' PREVIOUS: Texas social media safety law faces court challenge The Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act or HB 18 requires websites like Facebook and TikTok to implement strategies to prevent a minor from accessing content that 'promotes, glorifies or facilitates' suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, substance abuse, stalking, bullying, harassment, grooming, trafficking, child [sexual assault material], or other sexual abuse. Paxton suing TikTok, referencing SCOPE Act violations Western Texas District Court Judge Robert Pitman said in the order that this part of HB 18 was 'as content based as it gets,' and thus deserving of strict scrutiny. Under that standard, Paxton must show a compelling state interest in censoring the content. KXAN has reached out to Paxton for his response to the ruling. 'It is far from clear that Texas has a compelling interest in preventing minors' access to everysingle category of information listed above,' Pitman wrote. 'Many interests are not compelling, such as regulating content that might advocate for the deregulation of drugs (potentially 'promoting' 'substance abuse') or defending the morality of physician-assisted suicide (likely 'promoting' 'suicide').' He also cited the Supreme Court's opinion in the 1975 case Erznoznik v. Jacksonville, where it found that 'speech that is neither obscene as to youths nor subject to some other legitimate proscription cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable for them.' 'In its attempt to block children from accessing harmful content, Texas also prohibits minors from participating in the democratic exchange of views online,' Pitman wrote. 'Even accepting that Texas only wishes to prohibit the most harmful pieces of content, a state cannot pick and choose which categories of protected speech it wishes to block teenagers from discussing online.' Pitman noted that many terms used in HB 18 are 'too vague' and 'politically charged.' Specifically, he called out the terms 'promoting, glorifying, substance abuse, harassment and grooming.' The lawsuit was brought by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and law firm Davis Wright Tremaine on behalf of three minors who said that their access to content and ability to post about their experiences had been limited. 'This is a tremendous victory against government censorship, especially for our clients—ordinary citizens—who stood up to the State of Texas,' said Adam Sieff, partner at Davis Wright Tremaine. 'The Court enjoined every substantive provision of the SCOPE Act we challenged, granting even broader relief than its first preliminary injunction. We hope this decision will give other states pause before broadly restricting free expression online.' You can read Pitman's ruling below: Order-Granting-In-Part-and-Denying-in-Part-Plaintiffs-Motion-for-Preliminary-Injunction-Students-Engaged-in-Advancing-Texas-v.-PaxtonDownload Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
