| (a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) Act--The State Employee Health Fitness and Education Act, Government Code, Chapter 664, as amended by House Bill 1297, June 2007. (2) State Employee--A state employee who participates in a health benefits program administered under Insurance Code, Chapter 1551. (3) Best Practices--Recommended interventions that have been proven through the strength of evidence of effectiveness found through a systematic review of published evidence by peers. (4) Department--The Department of State Health Services. (5) State Agency--A department, institution, commission or other agency that is in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state government. (6) Executive Commissioner--The Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission. (7) Statewide Wellness Coordinator--A person designated by the department to create and develop for use the model statewide wellness program. (8) Worksite Wellness Advisory Board--A board appointed by the Executive Commissioner that consists of 13 members representing specific areas of expertise in state government and health and wellness. (b) Worksite Wellness Advisory Board. Composition, Meetings, Purpose, Reporting. (1) Composition. The Executive Commissioner shall appoint 13 members representing the following areas: (A) five state agency employees, including one employee each of the following agencies: (i) Department of Agriculture; (ii) Texas Education Agency; (iii) Texas Department of Transportation; (iv) Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and (v) the department; (B) one other employee of the department who is involved in worksite wellness efforts at the department; (C) one employee of the Employee Retirement System of Texas; (D) two state employee representatives of an eligible state employee organization described by Government Code, §403.0165, with at least 10,000 active, dues-paying members; (E) one worksite wellness professional; (F) one representative of the American Cancer Society; (G) one representative of the American Heart Association; and (H) one representative of the Texas Medical Association. (2) Meetings. (A) The board shall meet at least once a year in Austin. A meeting may be called with the agreement of department staff and the board. (B) Each meeting of the board shall be announced and conducted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act, Government Code, Chapter 551. (C) A simple majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting official business. (D) The board is authorized to transact official business only when in a legally constituted meeting with a quorum present. (E) Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall be the basis of parliamentary decisions except where otherwise provided by law or rule. (F) Any action taken by the board must be approved by a majority vote of the members present once quorum is established. Each member shall have one vote. A member may not authorize another individual to represent the member by proxy. (3) Purpose and tasks. The purpose and tasks of the board are to advise the department, executive commissioner and statewide wellness coordinator on worksite wellness issues including: (A) funding and resource development for worksite wellness programs; (B) identifying food vendors that successfully market healthy foods; (C) best practices for worksite wellness used by the private sector; and (D) worksite wellness features and architecture for new state buildings based on features and architecture used by the private sector. (4) Reporting. At the end of each meeting, the board will provide oral and/or written recommendations, based on the discussions of the board, to the department. The recommendations will be captured in the minutes of the meeting. |
