H.B. No. 13
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of a matching grant program to support
  community mental health programs for individuals experiencing
  mental illness and the coordination of certain behavioral health
  grants.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 531.0999 to read as follows:
         Sec. 531.0999.  GRANT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.
  (a) To the extent money is appropriated to the commission for that
  purpose, the commission shall establish a matching grant program
  for the purpose of supporting community mental health programs
  providing services and treatment to individuals experiencing
  mental illness.
         (b)  The commission shall ensure that each grant recipient
  obtains or secures contributions to match awarded grants in amounts
  of money or other consideration as required by Subsection (h). The
  money or other consideration obtained or secured by the recipient,
  as determined by the executive commissioner, may include cash or
  in-kind contributions from any person but may not include money
  from state or federal funds.
         (c)  Money appropriated to or obtained by the commission for
  the matching grant program must be disbursed directly to grant
  recipients by the commission, as authorized by the executive
  commissioner.
         (d)  A grant awarded under the matching grant program and
  matching amounts must be used for the sole purpose of supporting
  community programs that provide mental health care services and
  treatment to individuals with a mental illness and that coordinate
  mental health care services for individuals with a mental illness
  with other transition support services.
         (e)  The commission shall select grant recipients based on
  the submission of applications or proposals by nonprofit and
  governmental entities. The executive commissioner shall develop
  criteria for the evaluation of those applications or proposals and
  the selection of grant recipients. The selection criteria must:
               (1)  evaluate and score:
                     (A)  fiscal controls for the project;
                     (B)  project effectiveness;
                     (C)  project cost; and
                     (D)  an applicant's previous experience with
  grants and contracts;
               (2)  address whether the services proposed in the
  application or proposal would duplicate services already available
  in the applicant's service area;
               (3)  address the possibility of and method for making
  multiple awards; and
               (4)  include other factors that the executive
  commissioner considers relevant.
         (f)  A nonprofit or governmental entity that applies for a
  grant under this section must notify each local mental health
  authority with a local service area that is covered wholly or partly
  by the entity's proposed community mental health program and must
  provide in the entity's application a letter of support from each
  local mental health authority with a local service area that is
  covered wholly or partly by the entity's proposed community mental
  health program. The commission shall consider a local mental
  health authority's written input before awarding a grant under this
  section and may take any recommendations made by the authority.
         (g)  The commission shall condition each grant awarded to a
  recipient under the program on the recipient obtaining or securing
  matching funds from non-state sources in amounts of money or other
  consideration as required by Subsection (h).
         (h)  A community that receives a grant under this section is
  required to leverage funds in an amount:
               (1)  equal to 50 percent of the grant amount if the
  community mental health program is located in a county with a
  population of less than 250,000;
               (2)  equal to 100 percent of the grant amount if the
  community mental health program is located in a county with a
  population of at least 250,000; and
               (3)  equal to the percentage of the grant amount
  otherwise required by this subsection for the largest county in
  which a community mental health program is located if the community
  mental health program is located in more than one county.
         (i)  Except as provided by Subsection (j), from money
  appropriated to the commission for each fiscal year to implement
  this section, the commission shall reserve 50 percent of that total
  to be awarded only as grants to a community mental health program
  located in a county with a population not greater than 250,000.
         (j)  To the extent money appropriated to the commission to
  implement this section for a fiscal year remains available to the
  commission after the commission selects grant recipients for the
  fiscal year, the commission shall make grants available using the
  money remaining for the fiscal year through a competitive request
  for proposal process, without regard to the limitation provided by
  Subsection (i).
         (k)  Not later than December 1 of each calendar year, the
  executive commissioner shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant
  governor, and each member of the legislature a report evaluating
  the success of the matching grant program created by this section.
         (l)  The executive commissioner shall adopt any rules
  necessary to implement the matching grant program under this
  section.
         (m)  The commission shall implement a process to better
  coordinate all behavioral health grants administered by the
  commission in a manner that streamlines the administrative
  processes
  at the commission and decreases the administrative burden
  on applicants applying for multiple grants.  This may include the
  development of a standard application for multiple behavioral
  health grants.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect only if a specific
  appropriation for the implementation of the Act is provided in a
  general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 13 was passed by the House on April
  13, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 133, Nays 6, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 13 on May 25, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 7, 1
  present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 13 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 23, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor