(a) The nursing and convalescent home trust fund is with the comptroller and shall be made available to the department for expenditures without legislative appropriation to make emergency assistance funds available to a home.
(b) A trustee of a home may use the emergency assistance funds only to alleviate an immediate threat to the health or safety of the residents. The use may include payments for:
(1) food;
(2) medication;
(3) sanitation services;
(4) minor repairs;
(5) supplies necessary for personal hygiene; or
(6) services necessary for the personal care, health, and safety of the residents.

Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 242.096

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

(c) A court may order the department to disburse emergency assistance funds to a home if the court finds that:
(1) the home has inadequate funds accessible to the trustee for the operation of the home;
(2) there exists an emergency that presents an immediate threat to the health and safety of the residents; and
(3) it is in the best interests of the health and safety of the residents that funds are immediately available.
(d) The department shall disburse money from the nursing and convalescent home trust fund as ordered by the court in accordance with department rules.
(e) Any unencumbered amount in the nursing and convalescent home trust fund in excess of $10,000,000 at the end of each fiscal year shall be transferred to the credit of the general revenue fund and may be appropriated only to the department for its use in administering and enforcing this chapter.