State Policy Issues Highlights of the Regular Session of the 83rd Texas Legislature (2013) It was a tumultuous end to the regular session of the 83rd Texas Legislature , and with Gov . Rick Perrys announcement of a special session , lawmakers were not done. Below is a brief look at the legislation passed and the measures that fell short during the 140 days of the regular session . Approximately 5,868 House and Senate bills were filed, and some 1,436 bills were passed and sent to Perry for his consideration. During the final weekend of the session , Texas House and Senate leaders approved the states budget for the Fiscal Years (FYs) 2014-15 biennium. Agreement on the FYs 2014-15 General Appropriations Bill , Senate Bill 1 by Senator Tommy Williams , was closely linked to two other major pieces of legislation introduced by the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee , Representative Jim Pitts : House Bill 10, the principal bill used to authorize additional spending for the current FYs 2012-13 biennium, and House Bill 1025, appropriating final funding for FYs 2012-13 and providing a means for resolving the states water projects . While Medicaid caseload and cost increases are not fully funded , the two-year, $197 billion all-funds budget represents a significant increase over the $173 billion all-funds amount appropriated by the previous Texas Legislature in 2011. The good news for hospitals is that the Legislature agreed to provide up to $300 million for the FYs 2014-15 Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH ) program and that money for trauma and nursing education funding is provided at or above FYs 2012-13 amounts. Unfortunately, the state budget also includes savings from Medicaid cost containment initiatives , which will significantly impact hospitals . Some of the key session successes include, but are not limited to, the following: The $6.6 billion state-funded supplemental appropriations bill plugged most of the budget holes for the FYs 2012-13 biennium left by the 2011 Texas Legislature . Included in the appropriation was approximately $4.5 billion in state funds for the Texas Medicaid program, which addresses the $4.5 billion shortfall when legislators short-funded forecasted Medicaid claims during the 2011 legislative session . $138 million in state funding for the FY 2013 Medicaid DSH program. After federal match , the appropriation will help to fund about $338 million in Medicaid DSH payments to non-state hospitals in the current year. Another important Medicaid provision in the budget appropriated as much as $300 million in state General Revenues in FYs 2014 and 2015 to improve Medicaid hospital payments either as DSH or through rate adjustments. $33.75 million was protected for the biennium to allow nursing schools to maintain the increased enrollment they have achieved with some schools possibly expanding their programs (an increase of $3.75 million over current biennium). Relative restoration and prioritization in funds for Graduate Medical Education (GME ): Almost $9 million to increase the Health Related Institution GME formula; Almost $13 million for the Family Practice Residency Program ; Almost $2 million to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to award planning grants to hospitals that have never had residency programs; and, $12 million to the THECB for GME expansion. No harmful treat-until-transfer requirement for end-of-life care situations. No undermining of medical liability and tort reforms , including efforts to assail existing peer review and credentialing provisions . No legislation passed imposing mandatory, arbitrary nurse-staff ratios. No repeal of the Driver Responsibility Program , which is the major source of funding for trauma facilities and emergency medical service providers (trauma payments to hospitals will be approximately $57.5 million per year in FYs 2014 and 2015). No changes to Texas charity care and community benefit statute . Online Tools