MINUTES
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
9:30 a.m.
Senate Chamber
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.18, a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and
Human Services was held on Tuesday, April 16, 2002, in the
Senate Chamber at Austin, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Mike Moncrief, Chairman Senator John Carona,
Vice Chairman
Senator Mario Gallegos, Jr. Senator David Bernsen
Senator Frank Madla Senator Chris Harris
Senator Eliot Shapleigh Senator Jane Nelson
*****
The chairman called the meeting to order at 9:38 a.m. The
following business was transacted.
The chairman made opening remarks and announced that the purpose
of the hearing was to receive briefings from invited panelists
and to receive public testimony regarding the following select
interim committee charges: welfare related issues; Schedule III
prescription painkillers containing hydrocodone; improving the
reporting and training regarding the use of restraints and
seclusion; and, improving Texas' Supplemental Security Income
Disability Determination procedures.
The chairman called invited panelists to present briefings
regarding welfare related issues. The following persons
provided oral and written testimony:
Patrick Bresette, Associate Director, Center for Public
Policy Priorities, Austin, Texas.
Celia Hagert, Nutrition Policy Analyst, Center for Public
Policy Priorities, Austin, Texas.
Jason Sabo, Workforce Analyst, Center for Public Policy
Priorities, Austin, Texas.
Kathy Eckstein, Team Manager, Federal Funds Analysis,
Legislative Budget Board, Austin, Texas.
Larry Temple, Director, Office of Welfare Reform
Initiatives, Texas Workforce Commission, Austin, Texas.
Jim Hine, Commissioner, Texas Department of Human Services,
Austin, Texas.
Cynthia Bryant, Deputy Attorney General for Child Support,
Office of the Attorney General, Austin, Texas.
The chairman called invited panelists to present briefings
regarding Schedule III prescription painkillers containing
hydrocodone. The following person provided oral testimony:
Gay Dodson, R. Ph., Executive Director, Texas State Board
of Pharmacy, Austin, Texas.
The following person provided oral and written testimony:
Jane Carlisle Maxwell, Ph.D., Research Scientist, The
Center for Social Work Research, School of Social Work, The
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
The chairman recessed the Senate Committee on Health and Human
Services at 12:43 p.m.
At 1:37 p.m., the chairman reconvened the Senate Committee on
Health and Human Services.
The chairman called anew invited panelists to present briefings
regarding Schedule III prescription painkillers containing
hydrocodone. The following persons provided oral testimony:
Tammy B. Gray, R. Ph., Pharmacist/Owner, Lamar Plaza Drug
Store, Texas Pharmacy Association, Austin, Texas.
Thomas Valente, M.D., Franchise Medical Director, Abbott
Laboratories, Chicago, Illinois.
The chairman called invited panelists to present briefings
regarding restraints and seclusion. The following persons
provided oral and written testimony:
Aaryce Hayes, Program Specialist, Advocacy, Incorporated,
Austin, Texas.
Jackie Johnson, Deputy Commissioner, Long-Term Care, Texas
Department of Human Services, Austin, Texas.
Jack Ainsworth, LPC, MS, Mount Pleasant Hospitality House,
Mount Pleasant, Texas.
Judith Schubert, Executive Director, Crisis Prevention
Institute, Brookfield, Wisconsin.
The chairman called invited panelists to present briefings
regarding Supplemental Security Income Disability Determination
procedures. The following persons provided oral and written
testimony:
Dave Ward, Deputy Commissioner for Disability
Determination, Texas Rehabilitation Commission, Austin,
Texas.
Dee Kifowit, Executive Director, Texas Council for
Offenders with Mental Impairments, Austin, Texas.
Karen Hale, Commissioner, Texas Department of Mental Health
and Mental Retardation, Austin, Texas.
Don Gilbert, Commissioner, Texas Health and Human Services
Commission, Austin, Texas.
Carol Schaper, Mental Health Advocate, National Alliance
for the Mentally Ill, Plano, Texas.
The chairman called persons who registered as public witnesses
to provide testimony on the select interim committee charges.
The chairman recessed the Senate Committee on Health and Human
Services at 4:46 p.m.
At 4:52 p.m., the chairman reconvened the Senate Committee on
Health and Human Services.
The chairman called anew persons who registered as public
witnesses to provide testimony on the select interim committee
charges (see attached witness list).
With no other business to come before the committee, the
chairman recessed the committee at 5:26 p.m., subject to the
call of the chairman.
_____________________________________
Senator Mike Moncrief, Chairman
______________________________________
Scott Caffey, Committee Clerk