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More than 40 bills were passed this legislative session that affect military personnel and veterans. One such bill, SB 1237 by Sen. Craig Estes and sponsored in the House by myself, will have the effect of lowering the cost of long-term care for veterans in Texas State Veterans Homes.
The Texas Veterans Land Board owns four Texas State Veterans Homes (TSVH). We in District 62 are fortunate to have one of the homes located in Bonham. The other three homes are located in Big Spring, Floresville and Temple. These homes provide long-term care for qualified veterans, their spouses and certain parents of deceased veterans.
Currently, there is an emergency assistance fund of $10,000,000 to be used to meet the basic needs of residents in case a licensed convalescent or nursing home becomes financially insolvent and forced into receivership. The Texas Department of Human Services is authorized to assess a fee against all licensed convalescent and nursing homes if the balance of the fund drops below $10,000,000. This fee may be assessed more than once each year. Since the Texas State Veterans Homes are licensed nursing homes, they are subject to the fee assessment as well.
Since the Texas State Veterans Homes are operated by the state, they would never be in a position where they would be propped up by this emergency fund that they contribute to.
The Texas State Veterans' Land Board was assessed such a fee for 2002 and was recently assessed the another fee for 2003. These costs eventually have to be passed on to the veterans in the homes.
SB 1237 exempts the Texas State Veterans' Homes program from the trust fund fee assessment. The bill was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the governor early last month.
I encourage you to contact me during the interim with your comments and suggestions or if I may be of assistance with any issues dealing with state agencies. You can reach me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by e-mailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us.