Crime Control Prevention Districts__

My first bill passed out of the House this week!  House Bill 817 will align crime control prevention district elections with uniform election dates.  The Fort Worth crime control prevention district was created when there were still four election dates each year. Under the current cycle, the district would require a special election to continue functioning. Instead of holding a special election or prematurely dissolving the district, H.B. 817 will allow the Fort Worth crime prevention district to remain in existence until the May 2010 election day.  I am happy to assist in the effective continuation of this program until the citizens of Fort Worth vote in May 2010.

Keeping Doctors in Texas_____________

The graduate medical education bill, House Bill 2687, was passed out of the Committee on Higher Education this week.  This bill will create more residency positions for graduate medical education in rural, underserved areas.  It is my hope that these additional positions will bring healthcare professionals to some of the most medically disadvantaged areas of our State as well as giving our medical school graduates more opportunities to practice in Texas.  The bill is currently in the Calendars Committee, pending the assignment of a date to be heard on the House floor.

Aiding Community Colleges __________

The six-drop bill for community colleges, House Bill 2075, was also passed out of the

Committee on Higher Education this week.  This bill will remove the course-drop limit for community college students, who frequently schedule their coursework around complicated work and family commitments. The removal of this limitation will give students more flexibility and eliminate unnecessary barriers to their education.

Child Support and Health Insurance___

On April 15th I laid out House Bill 4288 in the Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.  This bill is authored by Representative Todd Hunter, and I am proud to have signed on as a joint author.  H.B. 4288 will create a private insurance group for children in the child support system whose parents do not have access to and/or cannot afford private insurance.  In particular,  this program will serve the group of children whose parents are able to make regular medical support payments in conjunction with their child support payments, but do not have health insurance.

Leadership Fort Worth_______________

Leadership Fort Worth visited the House of Representatives on April 16, and I was pleased to pass a resolution in their honor!  I fully support their efforts to provide Fort Worth with effective leadership and service.   

For Immediate Release
April 16, 2009

House Bill 4288 will create a private insurance group for certain Texas children in the child support system.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Representative Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth) laid out House Bill (HB) 4288 in the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. HB 4288 is authored by Representative Todd Hunter, Chairman of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, and joint authored by Representative Shelton. HB 4288 will create a private insurance group for children in the child support system whose parents do not have access to and/or cannot afford private insurance.

State and federal law already requires parents in the child support system to provide health care coverage for their children. This is achieved through a medical support order, which is a monetary obligation that courts order the non-custodial parent to pay each month toward healthcare for their children. Currently, the law instructs judges to first determine whether a child can obtain healthcare coverage through private means, such as employer-provided insurance. Parents who cannot afford an individual plan — or who cannot navigate the complicated process associated with health insurance — may be ordered to pay “cash medical” support. Cash medical is an additional cash payment that parents make on top of their existing child support order. However, within the child support population, there is a segment of children whose parents are already making regular child support payments and regular medical support payments, but who do not have health insurance. HB 4288 will serve this population of children.

HB 4288 will pool these children together to achieve lower premium rates and circumvent the need for underwriting, so that insurance is more affordable and available for parents. HB 4288 authorizes the Office of the Attorney General to establish a health insurance pool for children in the child support system. Through a competitive bid process, the state will evaluate proposals and select a private health insurance provider that will best serve the needs of these children. If parents do no already have private insurance, the courts can direct children into the pool in lieu of ordering “cash medical” support.

“By pooling children in the child support system together, we have the potential for connecting up to 200,000 Texas children to health care coverage their parents can afford — at no cost to the taxpayers,” Shelton says. “This is an example of how the public and private sectors can work together to effectively and efficiently serve a public need.”

HB 4288’s companion — Senate Bill 66 by Senator Nelson — was passed by the Senate unanimously.

REPRESENTATIVE MARK SHELTON PASSES FIRST BILL IN THE HOUSE

For Immediate Release
April 16, 2009

Bill aligns crime control prevention district elections with uniform election dates.   

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Representative Mark Shelton passed his first bill on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. House Bill (HB) 817 will align crime control prevention district elections with uniform election dates. This is important because it will enable the Fort Worth crime control prevention district and surrounding county districts to remain active for the purposes of funding crime prevention.

The Fort Worth crime control prevention district was created when there were still four election dates each year. The district was to be voted on again in the February 2010 election and would have required a special election to keep the district functioning. Instead of requiring a costly special election or prematurely dissolving the district, HB 817 will allow the Fort Worth crime prevention district to remain in existence until the May 2010 election day.

“The people of Fort Worth greatly benefit from our crime control prevention district, and I am happy to assist in the effective continuation of this program until the citizens of Fort Worth vote on it in May 2010.”

REPRESENTATIVE MARK SHELTON’S BILL TO EXPAND THE GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN TEXAS PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2009

Bill would expand Graduate Medical Education (GME) Programs in Texas by creating new physician residency spots and target residency placement in underserved communities.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - House Bill 2687 by Representative Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth) passed out of the House Committee on Higher Education Wednesday, April 15, 2009. HB 2687 expands Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs in Texas, targeting the fields of medicine experiencing shortages. HB 2687 also targets these residency placements in underserved communities including rural, inner-city, and Texas-Mexico border regions.

The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that 80 percent of physicians who complete both medical school and GME in Texas remain in Texas to practice. Conversely, only 35 percent of physicians who complete medical school in Texas — but not GME — return to practice in Texas.

“It is important that our physician population keep up with our rapidly growing population. Enabling more Texas medical school graduates to remain in Texas for their graduate medical education training is a common sense solution that is proven to result in more physicians for Texas,” says Shelton.

HB 2687 will gradually increase GME spots each year and target these placements in underserved areas.

“We need more doctors in rural, inner-city, and border regions. Creating new GME spots for underserved areas will provide much needed physicians, and will perhaps result in these physicians remaining in these areas once their graduate medical education is completed,” says Shelton.

Dr. Kenneth Shine, Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Texas System; Dr. Daniel Podolsky, President of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Dr. James Rohack, Professor of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and President-elect of the American Medical Association; Dr. Donald Wesson, Chief Academic Officer of Scott & White and Vice Dean of the Temple Campus Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine; and Dr. Ben Raimer, Chair of the Texas Statewide Health Coordinating Council all testified on HB 2687.  

Shelton is a pediatrician with Cook Children’s Hospital and represents House District 97, which is located in southwest Tarrant County. 

I would like to thank you all for your continued support!  Please visit my Website and Facebook page for updates on all that is happening in the 81st Legislative Session!

REPRESENTATIVE MARK SHELTON PUSHES BILL TO EXPAND THE GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN TEXAS

For Immediate Release
April 1, 2009

Bill would expand the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program in Texas by creating new physician residency spots and target residency placement in underserved communities.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Representative Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth) presented House Bill 2687 to the House Committee on Higher Education today. HB 2687 expands the Graduate Medical Education (GME) program in Texas, targeting the fields of medicine experiencing shortages. HB 2687 also targets these residency placements in underserved communities including rural, inner-city, and Texas-Mexico border regions.

The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that 80 percent of physicians who complete both medical school and GME in Texas remain in Texas to practice. Conversely, only 35 percent of physicians who complete medical school in Texas — but not GME — return to practice in Texas.

“It is important that our physician population keep up with our rapidly growing population. Enabling more Texas medical school graduates to remain in Texas for their graduate medical education training is a common sense solution that is proven to result in more physicians for Texas,” says Shelton.

HB 2687 will gradually increase GME spots each year and target these placements in underserved areas.

“We need more doctors in rural, inner-city, and border regions. Creating new GME spots for underserved areas will provide much needed physicians, and will perhaps result in these physicians remaining in these areas once their graduate medical education is completed,” says Shelton.

Dr. Kenneth Shine, Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Texas System; Dr. Daniel Podolsky, President of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Dr. James Rohack, Professor of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and President-elect of the American Medical Association; Dr. Donald Wesson, Chief Academic Officer of Scott & White and Vice Dean of the Temple Campus Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine; and Dr. Ben Raimer, Chair of the Texas Statewide Health Coordinating Council all testified on HB 2687.  

Shelton is a pediatrician with Cook Children’s Hospital and represents House District 97, which is located in southwest Tarrant County. 

REPRESENTATIVE MARK SHELTON LAYS OUT CHIP-PILOT PROJECT BEFORE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE

For Immediate Release
March 31, 2009

Bill would create a two-year pilot project to implement reforms to the Children’s Health Insurance Program. 

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Today Representative Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth) laid out House Bill 2686 before the House Committee on Public Health. HB 2686 will create a two-year pilot program to implement reforms to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The pilot project will test three reforms: 1.) Increase certain CHIP physician reimbursement rates to 100 percent of Medicare rates for primary care office, non-procedural codes; 2.) Eliminate co-payments for CHIP children visiting primary care physicians for sick child visits; 3.) Simplify the CHIP enrollment procedure and extend enrollment. These reforms are intended to increase the number of physicians who accept CHIP patients, increase CHIP enrollment, and ultimately improve access to quality primary care for CHIP patients.

Texas leads the nation in the number of children without medical insurance. Of the 1.5 million uninsured Texas children, 64 percent qualify for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid benefits.

“It is vital to enroll eligible children into CHIP,” says Shelton. “However, in order for this to happen — and happen effectively — fundamental reforms to CHIP are necessary. We must first incentivize more physicians to accept CHIP patients, especially in the areas of pediatrics and family practice. Without enough physicians to accept CHIP patients, enrolling more children into CHIP will be futile.”

Current CHIP reimbursement rates discourage primary care physicians from accepting CHIP patients. This results in physicians limiting or not accepting CHIP patients, which prevents CHIP patients from receiving quality, accessible healthcare. A lack of primary care physicians willing to accept CHIP patients forces many non-urgent CHIP patients to seek care in emergency rooms, which consumes vital resources available for emergency care.  The Health and Human Services Commission estimates that 50 to 70 percent of emergency room visits by CHIP children are classified as non-urgent (i.e. strep throat, flu, ear infections, etc.).

“We must incentivize CHIP patients to seek non-urgent care in a primary care setting, rather than the emergency room,” says Shelton. HB 2686 will eliminate co-payments for CHIP children visiting primary care physicians for sick child visits with the hope that CHIP patients will choose a primary care clinic over the emergency room.

“Every day I see the effect that insufficient access to primary care has on CHIP children. We must incentivize CHIP patients to seek primary care, so that these children can obtain a quality physician who knows and understands their health history and will provide better continuity of care,” says Shelton. “In doing so, the taxpayers of Texas will also benefit. First, improved primary care for our children will result in fewer future health problems for these children. A healthier citizenry ultimately means that less money will need to be spent as these Texans age. Second, CHIP children receiving care in a primary care setting means that there will fewer non-urgent visits to the emergency room, which is the most expensive kind of healthcare.”

Shelton is a pediatrician with Cook Children’s Hospital and represents House District 97, which is located in southwest Tarrant County. 

The Federal Spending Package.



In the wake of 9/11, the federal economy was fragile and jobs were lost.  President Bush then sent about $600,000,000 to Texas for unemployment with no strings attached! Employers know that they write two unemployment tax checks: one to the state and one to the federal government.  The money sent by President Bush came from the Texas monies held by the federal government for exactly that situation and purpose.



Now, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed want to send Texas $555,000,000 for unemployment.  This $555 million dollar pot of money is from money paid by Texas employers to the federal unemployment system.  There is NOT one penny of so-called “stimulus money” in this package!  And this time there are costly strings attached.



These strings come in two forms. The first set of strings is a massive expansion of those eligible for unemployment payments including part time workers, those who quit work for “compelling family reasons,” and those who quit for job training.  This set also increases payments to Texans based on the number of their dependents and not employment status.  This is a major shift from existing law.



The second set of stings is the PERMANENT restructuring of Texas unemployment laws to correspond to states such as New York and New Jersey.  These mandates have previously failed to pass the US Senate and the US House as standalone items!  Texas has never passed such radical changes in our unemployment insurance system.  The worst part of these permanent changes is that they would increase the cost of operating a small business at a time when we need small businesses to be healthy and hiring more Texans. A bill has been filed in the Texas Legislature to strip the requirement that Texas make these changes permanent should we accept the money, but it is unlikely this bill will pass federal review.



Texas has been an economic powerhouse and a leader in job creation.  Leading the country has mostly to do with the great job environment in Texas where employers are not overly burdened by the state.  The Democrats’ mandates from DC –fully supported by Texas Democrats– will cost Texas job creators $75,000,000 per year.  And that is just the start.



If we are truly worried about the unemployed, we need to support our businesses so they will employ more people.  These strings are simply an increased tax on business, which will result in increasing the unemployment and force businesses to employ fewer people.  We need the current administration to give Texas OUR MONEY back to us with no strings, just like President Bush did after 9/11.

     The 81st Legislative Session is now underway and things are running smoothly under the direction of new House Speaker Joe Straus (R - San Antonio). Speaker Straus is doing a great job in his new role.
     Part of the Speaker’s job is to assign the members of the House to their committees. Committee positions are coveted, and members spend the first part of each session campaigning for positions. Fortunately, the wait is over. Speaker Straus announced the committee assignments for the 81st Legislative Session on February 12, 2009.
     I am very pleased with his assignments. Speaker Straus appointed me to the Committee on Public Education, the Committee on Border and Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Committee on House Administration. These are strong assignments for a freshman Representative, and I am looking forward to working on the legislation assigned to these committees.
     I have also been working on legislation of my own. The first is House Bill 817, which relates to the time for dissolution of crime control prevention districts and will help to ensure that these districts are allowed to work as effectively as possible. Another is House Bill 1138, which relates to information required on pharmacy benefit identification cards. This bill will allow prescription identification cards to be processed much more efficiently and will ensure customers receive their medicines in a prompt manner.
     Please feel free to contact my office at 512-463-0608 or (district number) should you have any concerns, questions, or to schedule a visit to the Capitol. I am honored to be representing the people of District 97, and I thank you for your support.