BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 39

By: Lopez, Ray

Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The author has informed the committee that there is an ongoing issue of inadequate and incomplete data regarding veteran deaths in Texas, particularly with respect to reporting veteran suicides. This issue became apparent following a 2020 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office that found significant overcounts and undercounts in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data on veteran suicides. The lack of accurate and comprehensive data on veteran suicides makes it difficult to understand the underlying causes of and trends in veteran deaths, which can hinder the development of effective prevention strategies. C.S.H.B. 39 seeks to address this issue by requiring the Texas Department of State Health Services to submit information regarding deceased veterans to the Texas Veterans Commission.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 39 amends the Health and Safety Code to replace the requirement for the state registrar of vital statistics to notify the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) when the death certificate of a qualifying veteran is filed with the vital statistics unit in the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) with a requirement for DSHS to submit instead to TVC deidentified information on such a veteran's manner of death, only if the death was by suicide or homicide, age, race, sex, and occupation when the veteran's death certificate is filed with the unit. A qualifying veteran for this purpose is a person who meets any of the following criteria:

·served in a war, campaign, or expedition of the United States, the Confederate States of America, or the Republic of Texas, or was the wife or widow of such a person; or

·at the time of death was in the service of the United States.

The bill requires TVC, not later than September 1 of each year, to prepare and submit to the standing committees of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over veterans affairs and to publish on the TVC website a written report that contains the following information:

·aggregated data based on the deidentified information the commission receives for the preceding year;

·an evaluation of that data; and

·any recommendations for legislative or other action.

The bill requires TVC to prepare and submit the initial report not later than September 1, 2027.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 39 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The introduced and the substitute both set out the type of deidentified information DSHS must submit to TVS on a qualifying veteran, but that requirement differs between the bill versions in the following ways:

·whereas the introduced included the person's cause of death among that information, the substitute includes instead the person's manner of death, only if the death was by suicide or homicide; and

·whereas the introduced included the person's gender among that information, the substitute instead includes the person's sex.

The substitute postpones the deadline for TVC to prepare and submit the initial report from September 1, 2026, as in the introduced, to September 1, 2027.