Bill Update for the Week of June 13

The House and the Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto of the budget last week and then spent long days in committee and in session in order to adjourn on Saturday. The following is a summary of bills acted upon last week. Full reports on all of the bills of interest to people with disabilities will be posted soon, along with a final budget summary.

HB 229, Rural Operating Assistance Program Changes (Owens Sponsor). HB 229 will allow regional public transportation authorities, upon written agreement with the counties, to apply for Elderly and Disabled transportation and assistance funds to which the member counties are entitled to receive. The bill was approved by the Senate without changes last week and has been presented to the Governor for her signature.

HB 344, Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities (Stam, Randleman, Jordan and Jones Sponsors). The bill creates an individual income tax credit for families of children with disabilities who require special education and are attending a nonpublic school, including home school. The credit is equal to the amount the taxpayer paid for tuition and special education and related services expenses, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per semester. It also creates a Fund for Special Education and Related Services, with $2,000 per tax credit given being transferred to the Fund each year. Last week, this legislation was approved by the Senate, and the House concurred with the changes made in the Senate. It will now proceed to the Governor.



HB 351, Restore Confidence in Government (Lewis, Moore and Killian Sponsors). HB351, aka the “Voter ID” bill will require photo identification before voting. The bill as passed removed all of the compromise language discussed earlier in the session, including the exceptions for people with disabilities. The Senate Judiciary I and Appropriations committees approved the bill last week, and the House concurred in the Senate committee substitute. The bill has now been presented to the Governor and it is hoped that she will veto the legislation.

HB 374, Eugenics Records/Public Records Exemption (Womble and Parmon Sponsors). The bill makes clear that records in the custody of the State concerning the North Carolina Eugenics Board program are not public records to the extent they concern: (i) persons impacted by the program, (ii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the impact of the program on them, (iii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the potential impact of the program on others. It also states that a person impacted by the program may obtain that person's individual records under the program, and a guardian or authorized agent of that person may also obtain them. The bill was approved by the Senate and ratified by the House last week and has been presented to the Governor.



HB 397, DHHS Penalties and Remedies Revision  (Lewis Sponsor). HB 397 seeks to amend facility penalty provisions under 122C, 131D and 131E to split Type A violations into Type A1 (violations that result in result in death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation) and Type A2 violations (violations that result in substantial risk that death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation will occur). HB 397 is now a consensus bill that passed through the House last month. HB 397 was approved by the Senate Finance committee where some technical corrections to the bill were made, followed by approval by the full Senate. The House concurred in the Senate committee substitute and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



HB 509, Exclusions from Licensure: Home Services (Hurley Sponsor). HB 509 seeks to allow people with disabilities who receive MH/DD/SA services to live together as roommates without their home being considered a facility for licensing purposes. Specifically, it excludes from licensure: “A home in which up to three adults, two or more having a disability, co own or co rent a home in which the persons with disabilities are receiving three or more hours of day services in the home or up to 24 hours of residential services in the home. The individuals who have disabilities cannot be required to move if the individuals change services, change service providers, or discontinue services.” Disability Rights NC was part of the workgroup that developed this language, and we support this bill. HB 509 was approved by the full Senate last week and has been presented to the Governor.

HB 595, Reorganization/Legislative Oversight Comns (Barnhart, Burr Sponsors). HB 595 proposes a new structure for the numerous legislative committees and commissions, including establishing a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, which merges the Study Commission on Aging, the Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, and the Public Health Study Commission. Last week, the House concurred with the changes made in the Senate and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



HB 618, Streamline Oversight/DHHS Service Providers (Lewis and Hurley Sponsors). HB 618 seeks to streamline duplicate oversight of DHHS service providers. A very scaled back version of the bill was approved by the Senate last week. The bill no longer includes a task force to make recommendations on duplicative oversight. The bill now directs DHHS to: prepare a rate setting memorandum for every change or adjustment made by DHHS in service definition, policy, rule, or provider requirements that impacts services; dissolve North Carolina Treatment Outcomes Program Performance System (NC TOPPS) Advisory Committee and establish a task force made up of division staff, Behavioral Health Managed Care Organizations, consumers, and providers to objectively evaluate the North Carolina Treatment Outcomes Program Performance System (NC TOPPS) to improve the way data is accessible across services rather than site specific to reflect valid comparisons of program outcomes by August 1, 2011; allow private sector development and implementation of an Internet based, secure, and consolidated data warehouse and archive for maintaining corporate, fiscal, and administrative records of providers by September 1, 2011; and review on an annual basis updates to policy made by national accrediting bodies and take actions necessary to ensure that DHHS policy or procedural requirements do not duplicate the updated accreditation standards. The House concurred in the Senate committee substitute and the bill has been presented to the Governor.

HB 622, Nursing Homes/Food Service Inspections (McCormick, Stevens, Cleveland, Glazier Sponsors), was previously titled “Article 3A Administrative Procedures.” The bill now seeks to allow nursing homes and nursing home beds licensed under Chapter 131E that are also certified by Medicare and Medicaid to be limited to one food service inspection per year unless the facility receives a grade "B" or lower on its annual inspection. It was approved by the Senate last week and has been presented to the Governor.

HB 646, Prison Hospital Completion (Daughtry Sponsor). The bill allows the Department of Correction to use funds allocated for 2 capital projects that came in under budget to finish the hospital at Central Prison (funds will be used to finish the facility, purchase medical equipment, and expand the kitchen). The prison hospital will have 120 beds and will include beds for inmates with psychiatric needs. The bill was approved by the full Senate last week and has been presented to the Governor.

HB 677, Discharge of Adult Care Home Residents (Lewis). HB 677 seeks to change the law governing Adult Care Home discharge of residents. A committee substitute which made several changes was approved by the Senate last week. The bill now places the responsibility for determining an appropriate discharge destination on the local adult care home discharge team members, rather than on the Division of Medical Assistance Hearing Unit. It also adds that the Department cannot prohibit discharge solely for the reason that the discharge destination identified in the written notice does not include an appropriate discharge destination. However, the discharge team must provide the Hearing Unit with the discharge location at or before the discharge hearing. It also now provides that LMEs shall take the lead role for the discharge destination for residents whose primary unmet needs are related to MH/DD/SA and local departments of social services shall take the lead role for those residents whose primary unmet needs are related to health, including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, welfare, abuse, or neglect. Finally, the legislation now states that the resident shall remain in the facility pending appeal unless (1) The discharge is necessary for the resident's welfare and the resident's needs cannot be met in the facility as documented by the resident's physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner;(2) The safety of other individuals in the facility is endangered; and (3) The health of other individuals in the facility is endangered as documented by a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner. The full Senate approved the bill, the House concurred in the Senate committee substitute and it has now been presented to the Governor.



HB 678, Pilot Release of Inmates to Adult Care Homes (Lewis Sponsor). HB 678 seeks to establish a pilot program to allow certain inmates released from confinement to be placed in an Adult Care Home (only the inmates selected for the pilot will reside in the facility) to receive Personal Care Services and Medication Management. HB 678 was approved by the Senate and ratified by the House, and has now been presented to the Governor.



HB 736, Amend Law re: School Discipline (Langdon, Luebke, Daughtry, Lucas Sponsors). HB 736 seeks to make a number of changes to Chapter 115C regarding school discipline with the goal of keeping students in school. It is a consensus bill supported by Disability Rights NC that numerous entities representing schools and students contributed to. The conference committee appointed on the bill agreed to incorporate the Corporal Punishment opt-out language of SB 498 into HB 736. To avoid any confusion regarding the new 115C section numbers, the bill also specifies that if Senate Bill 498 becomes law, then that act is repealed. The House and the Senate approved the conference committee report and the bill has now been presented to the Governor.



HB 773, Studies Act of 2011 (Johnson, Murry, McGee, Starnes, Dockham Sponsors). The Senate approved a committee substitute for the study bill but the House did not concur. A conference committee was appointed but did not have time to meet in the rush of the end of the session. However, they may take up the bill during the special session beginning July 13. The current version contains numerous items that may be studied that are relevant to people with disabilities, including: criminal defendants who lacks the capacity to proceed to trial; in home and community based mental health services for youth; a bill of rights for children who are deaf or hearing impaired; a revised process for collecting data to develop a waiting list of persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities; a pilot program to evaluate the costs, quality, consumer satisfaction, and patient outcomes of a program that supports individuals who are in an adult or family care home and who want to move back into independent supported housing; short and intermediate term options for improving economies and efficiencies in the provision of aid and services under the Medicaid plan with respect to services for Medicaid beneficiaries requiring long term care services, including beneficiaries who are aged, blind, and disabled, and those dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Again, the bill has not yet been approved, and, even when it has been, there is no guarantee that any of these issues will be studied.



HB 808, Revise Laws on Adult Care Homes (Burr). HB 808 seeks to waive annual inspections of Adult Care Homes that achieve the highest rating, and to develop an informal dispute resolution procedure that allows Adult Care Homes to dispute cited inspection deficiencies. The full Senate approved the bill last week, the House concurred in the Senate committee substitute, and it has now been presented to the Governor.



SB 8, No Cap on Number of Charter Schools (Stevens sponsor). This bill eliminates the existing cap of 100 charter schools. This bill has been in conference between the House and Senate for the past 2 months. The conference committee reported in this week. The legislation now simply lifts the cap on charter schools. The compromise agreement removes the current limit of 100 charters and allows existing schools to increase annual enrollment by 20 percent. The conference report scraps some of the more controversial provisions - including one that would have granted broader authority to an independent charter board to approve new schools. The latest version also no longer requires charters to provide transportation or free and reduced lunches to low-income students. The Governor signed the bill into law last week and it is now Session Law 2011 164.

SB 375, Facilitate Statewide Health Info. Exchange (Stein and Brunstetter Sponsors). SB 375 seeks to set up a statewide health information exchange network. The framework proposed is to facilitate the exchange of healthcare information among covered healthcare providers within the confines of HIPAA. It allows individuals the right to opt out if they so choose. The provisions proposed only apply to protected health information disclosed within the Health Information Exchange. A House committee substitute was approved last week, which added a requirement for individual notice of the right to opt out (not just public notice). The Senate concurred in the House committee substitute and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



SB 394, Clarify Process/Reportable Offenses in Schools (Newton, Tillman, Preston Sponsors). SB 394 seeks to amend the statute (115C-288(g)) regarding principal reporting of certain acts to law enforcement. It proposes to change the standard from a principal’s “personal knowledge or actual notice from school personnel” to “reasonable belief” (which is further defined) that a specified act has occurred on school property. It also provides that the State Board of Education shall not require the principal to report to law enforcements acts in addition to those required in the statute. Last week, SB 394 was approved by the House, ratified by the Senate, and presented to the Governor.



SB 397, Expunge Nonviolent Offense by Minor (Berger, McKissick, Daniel Sponsors). SB 397 will allow the expunction of criminal records for certain offenses for first offenders who are under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of a nonviolent felony. Last week, a House committee substitute was approved by the House, the Senate concurred in the committee substitute, and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



SB 437 Enact First Evaluation Program (Hartsell Sponsor). SB 437 seeks to codify a practice that has been piloted that allows the Secretary to waive the requirements for a physician or eligible psychologist to perform the initial examination for involuntary commitment and substitute a licensed clinical social worker, a master's level psychiatric nurse, or a master's level certified clinical addictions specialist at the request of an LME. When making and considering the request, certain criteria must be addressed. A House committee substitute was approved by the House last week; the Senate concurred in the Senate committee substitute; and the bill has been presented to the Governor.


SB 449, Task Force on Fraud Against Older Adults (Bingham Sponsor). SB 449 directs the Consumer Protection Division of the NC Department of Justice, to coordinate a task force on fraud against older adults, as recommended by the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging. The bill was approved by the House and ratified by the Senate last week, and it has now been presented to the Governor.



SB 474, Photo ID for Certain Controlled Substances (Apodaca, Hise Sponsors). SB 374 seeks to direct pharmacies to require photo identification prior to dispensing any Schedule II and certain Schedule III Controlled Substances. A committee substitute was passed by the House last week; the Senate concurred; and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



SB 479, Testing in the Public Schools (Tillman, Preston, Soucek Sponsors). SB 479 seeks to implement several additional components of the state’s testing of public school students: continued participation in the development of the Common Core State Standards in conjunction with the consortium of other states, including implementing the assessments that the State Board deems most appropriate to assess student achievement on the Common Core State Standards; to the extent funds are made available, the State Board shall plan for and require the administration of the ACT test for all students in the eleventh grade unless the student has already taken a comparable test and scored at or above a level set by the State Board, as well as diagnostic tests in the eighth and tenth grades that align to the ACT test in order to help diagnose student learning and provide for students an indication of whether they are on track to be remediation free at a community college or university; and to the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board shall plan for and require local school administrative units to make available the appropriate WorkKeys tests for all students who complete the second level of vocational/career courses. A committee substitute was approved by the House last week; the Senate concurred; and the bill has been presented to the Governor.



SB 496, now known as Medicaid and Health Choice Provider Req (was PPACA/Required Fraud and Abuse Provisions) (Pate Sponsor). SB 496 seeks to implement screening for Medicaid and Health Choice providers, identifying providers of certain types of services as low, moderate or high risk. It also provides for criminal history record checks for certain providers. It also amends the procedures for changing medical policies. Last week, the House approved a committee substitute; the Senate concurred; and the bill has been referred to the Governor.



SB 498, Modify Law re: Corporal Punishment (Pate, Purcell Sponsors). SB 498 would allow parents to opt their child out of a school’s corporal punishment policy. An amendment to the bill was adopted in the House that added language stating that the form given to parents shall advise that the student may be subject to suspension, among other possible punishments, for offenses that would otherwise not require suspension if corporal punishment were available. Although the bill was approved by both the House and the Senate, the approved language was incorporated into the school discipline bill mentioned above, which also directed the repeal of this bill if enacted.



SB 578, Facilitate Transfer SPH Beds Com. Facility (Hartsell) was formerly titled “LME Minimum Population.” SB 578 now seeks to allow the Secretary of DHHS to transfer beds from a State psychiatric hospital to a community facility without a written memorandum of agreement between the local management entity serving the county where the beds are to be located and the facility submitting the proposal if certain conditions are met, including that the facility submits a CON application, the facility commits to serve the type of short term patients normally placed at the State psychiatric hospital, the facility proposing to operate the beds is a provider created under G.S. 131E 17 and the facility proposing to operate the beds is in a single county area authority. The bill is intended to fix an issue in the Mecklenburg catchment area that has prevented the transfer of beds from Broughton to the Carolinas Medical Center (the beds at Broughton are un-staffed so this will not decrease, but rather increase, available beds). It was approved by the House last week, ratified by the Senate, and has been presented to the Governor.



SB597 (Purcell) BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR MILITARY/FUNDS. SB 597 would require LMEs and schools to make certain staffing and procedural changes to ensure care for members of the military, veterans, and their families, whose care is funded through federal programs is coordinated appropriately. The bill was approved by the House, ratified by the Senate and presented to the Governor. It was signed into law this week and is SL2011-0185.



SB 607, Conform Medical Record Laws (Stein). SB 607 seeks to amend various sections in the General Statutes to make it easier to share currently protected health information, including a provision seeking to revise exceptions to confidentiality under 122C, which covers MH/DD/SA service providers. The House approved a committee substitute last week that the Senate concurred with. It has been presented to the Governor. The House committee substitute strengthened the language in the 122C section to add the client’s legally responsible person and to add that the person may object in writing or sign a non disclosure form that shall be supplied by the facility.

SB 683, Residential Building Inspections (Hunt Sponsor). SB 683 seeks to limit the allowable periodic building inspections only when there is reasonable cause to believe that unsafe, unsanitary, or otherwise hazardous or unlawful conditions may exist in a residential building. It was approved by the Senate and the House, and has been presented to the Governor.



SB 781, Regulatory Reform Act of 2011 (Rouzer and H. Brown, Sponsors). SB 781 amends Chapter 150B of the NC general statutes to add requirements for agencies in rulemaking, and analysis of the fiscal impact of rules. It also incorporates changes regarding final agency decision-making authority supported by Disability Rights NC. It was approved by the House and Senate and has been sent to the Governor.

And they're gone . . . for now

Just a quick note for you folks who follow the DRNC Policy blog . . . The legislature has adjourned until July 13.  At that time, they will return to take up redistricting; bills vetoed by the Governor (which is a growing list); Filling of vacancies on the State Board of Community Colleges; Bills in which the General Assembly makes an appointment or appointments to public office and which contain no other matter; Bills relating to election laws; and adoption of conference reports for bills which were in conference as of Saturday, June 18, 2011 and conferees had been appointed by both houses as of that date. 

A summary of what happened the last week of session and a final summary of the budget will be posted here in the coming days. Soon thereafter, we hope to have final legislative reports on all bills we have been tracking available on the website.  If you have a burning desire to know how something turned out before then, please contact me at annaliese.dolph@disabilityrightsnc.org.

Bill Update for the Week of June 6

There was a flurry of activity this week at the General Assembly as we hit the crossover deadline, Thursday, June 9 and both chambers attempt to wrap up by the end of next week. Crossover is the date by which (most) bills need to pass at least one chamber in order to be eligible to proceed. Crossover is usually much earlier in the session. With the number of bills flying through last week, this next week is sure to bring long hours and lots of debate. Many bills will be considered for final passage but some legislation will be tabled until the short session next year.


We are also awaiting action from the Governor on the budget. She has until June 14 to act. The expectation remains that the Governor will veto the budget, the House and Senate will override her veto and the budget will be finalized in the coming week as well. As there are always some tweaks to the budget in what’s called the “Technical Corrections” bill in the final days of the session, we are holding off on our full budget summary until then. However, the blog has reports summarizing the budget in earlier posts.

HB 229, Rural Operating Assistance Program Changes (Owens Sponsor). HB 229 will allow regional public transportation authorities, upon written agreement with the counties, to apply for Elderly and Disabled transportation and assistance funds to which the member counties are entitled to receive. The bill received a favorable report from the House Transportation committee this week, as well as a successful vote from the full House. It has been referred to the Senate Transportation committee.


HB 237, Economic Impact/Regulatory Legislation (Dollar, Rhyne, McElraft, Folwell Sponsors). HB 237 seeks to require economic impact statements on all bills that propose regulatory changes, similar to the fiscal notes that agencies prepare during rulemaking. HB 237 received a favorable report from the House Commerce committee last week, and passed the full House. It has been referred to the Senate Commerce committee.


HB 344, Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities (Stam, Randleman, Jordan and Jones Sponsors). The bill creates an individual income tax credit for families of children with disabilities who require special education and are attending a nonpublic school, including home school. The credit is equal to the amount the taxpayer paid for tuition and special education and related services expenses, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per semester. It also creates a Fund for Special Education and Related Services, with $2,000 per tax credit given being transferred to the Fund each year. A committee substitute that tacked on changes to the budget bill regarding education appropriations and funds to the Savings Reserve Account, received a favorable report from the House Appropriations committee this week. The bill then proceeded to a vote in the full House, passing 73-39 after 3 amendments were considered. The first amendment, made by Representative Daughtry, which was adopted, amended the section that made the tax credit refundable to intead allow for carryover. The second amendment, made by Representative Goodman, would have limited the students covered by the bill to students with mental retardation or with multiple disabilities who are served in a regular classroom 40% or less during the day, but it failed. The third amendment, made by Representative Brandon, amended the disqualification portion of the bill to allow students up to age 22, rather than 19, to qualify. The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education committee on Monday.



HB 351, Restore Confidence in Government (Lewis, Moore and Killian Sponsors). HB351, aka the “Voter ID” bill will require photo identification before voting. Voter ID voted out of Appropriations. The bill considered this week removes all of the compromise language discussed earlier in the session – must have NC driver’s license, US passport, military ID, . There are no exceptions for people with disabilities. Bryant moved to amend the bill on the floor. Jackson spoke about HAVA documents – will reduce access. Rep Killian rejects the idea that it is burdensome to get an idea –obviously he doesn’t know anyone with a disability who lacks access to transportation! The bill passed the House along strict party lines. The bill will next be considered in the Senate Judiciary I committee.

HB 374, Eugenics Records/Public Records Exemption (Womble and Parmon Sponsors). The bill makes clear that records in the custody of the State concerning the North Carolina Eugenics Board program are not public records to the extent they concern: (i) persons impacted by the program, (ii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the impact of the program on them, (iii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the potential impact of the program on others. It also states that a person impacted by the program may obtain that person's individual records under the program, and a guardian or authorized agent of that person may also obtain them. HB 374 received a favorable report from the Senate Judiciary II committee last week and is scheduled to be voted upon by the full Senate on Monday.



HB 397, DHHS Penalties and Remedies Revision (Agency Bill) (Lewis Sponsor). HB 397 seeks to amend facility penalty provisions under 122C, 131D and 131E to split Type A violations into Type A1 (violations that result in result in death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation) and Type A2 violations (violations that result in substantial risk that death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation will occur). HB 397 is now a consensus bill that passed through the House last month. It received a favorable report from the Senate Health Care committee last week, and will next be heard in Senate Finance where some technical corrections to the bill are expected before being voted upon in the full Senate.



HB 467, as originally filed, (Blust Sponsor) sought to amend the current law related to the use of reasonable force in schools to allow reasonable force to be used for discipline purposes and to make it even more difficult to hold school personnel liable for excessive force. The bill was changed this week to a bill to Restructure the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. Disability Rights NC was opposed to the original bill. As there was no Senate counterpart, the matter will not procced.


HB 509, Exclusions from Licensure: Home Services (Hurley Sponsor). HB 509 seeks to allow people with disabilities who receive MH/DD/SA services to live together as roommates without their home being considered a facility for licensing purposes. Specifically, it excludes from licensure: “A home in which up to three adults, two or more having a disability, co own or co rent a home in which the persons with disabilities are receiving three or more hours of day services in the home or up to 24 hours of residential services in the home. The individuals who have disabilities cannot be required to move if the individuals change services, change service providers, or discontinue services.” Disability Rights NC was part of the workgroup that developed this language, and we support this bill. HB 509 received a favorable report from the Senate Health Care committee last week and will be voted upon in the full Senate on Monday. This is the last stop before proceeding to the Governor to be signed into law.



HB 541 was originally filed as CAP-MR/DD Waiver Change/Residential Supports (Hurley Sponsor) and would have allowed CAP-MR/DD recipients to receive residential supports in settings with greater than six beds. However, the bill was changed this week to legislation to allow certain community colleges to opt out of the federal loan program. As there was no Senate counterpart, the matter will not proceed.



HB 590, Amend Interpreter Laws/Cued Speech (Alexander Sponsor). HB 590 seeks to make clarifying changes regarding cued speech in the laws regulating the practice of interpreters and transliterators. A committee substitute making technical changes received a favorable report from the House Health and Human Services this week, along with a favorable vote from the full House. The bill will next be heard in the Senate Health committee.


HB 595, Reorganization/Legislative Oversight Comns (Barnhart, Burr Sponsors). HB 595 proposes a new structure for the numerous legislative committees and commissions, including establishing a Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, which merges the Study Commission on Aging, the Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, and the Public Health Study Commission. The bill, which passed through the House in April, received a favorable report from the Program Evaluation committee, and a favorable vote from the full House this week. Because the Senate did make changes, the bill will now go back to the House for concurrence. It is notable that there was some concern during the discussion that there would no longer be a separate MH/DD/SAS oversight committee, but the merger of the HHS committees remains.



HB 606, Sheriff/Inspect Prescription Drug Records (McElraft, Randleman, McLawhorn Sponsors). HB 606 provides that a sheriff or a designated deputy sheriff who is assigned to investigate the diversion and illegal use of prescription medication or pharmaceutical products and has a reasonable suspicion in a specific investigation may access data in the controlled substance reporting system. A committee substitute received a favorable report from the House Judiciary B committee and passed the full House. It will now proceed to the Senate where it is unclear whether it will be heard before the Senate adjourns.



HJR 612, Incapacity to Proceed/LRC Study (Randleman, Hurley Sponsors). House Joint Resolution 612 seeks to authorize the Legislative Research Commission to study the current criminal and mental health laws and procedures regarding incapacity to proceed to trial and involuntary commitment. It received a favorable report from the House Rules Committee and a favorable vote from the full House this week. It has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.



HB 618, Streamline Oversight/DHHS Service Providers (Lewis and Hurley Sponsors). HB 618 seeks to streamline duplicate oversight of DHHS service providers. A Proposed Committee Substitute, supported by Disability Rights NC, was approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee last month but the bill was not heard by the House Appropriations committee until this week. The full Appropriations committee gave a favorable report to a committee substitute that decreased the number of members on the task force to 18 from 20 by removing 2 provider members. The full House approved the measure after one additional amendment from Representative Bryant adding two consumers to the task force, putting the task force membership back at 20. The bill has now been referred to the Senate Rules committee.



HB 622, Nursing Homes/Food Service Inspections (McCormick, Stevens, Cleveland, Glazier Sponsors), was previously titled “Article 3A Administrative Procedures.” The bill now seeks to allow nursing homes and nursing home beds licensed under Chapter 131E that are also certified by Medicare and Medicaid to be limited to one food service inspection per year unless the facility receives a grade "B" or lower on its annual inspection. It received a favorable report in the House Health and Human Services committee and a favorable vote from the full House last week. It is scheduled to be heard Tuesday in the Senate Health committee.



HB 625, Bill of Rights/Deaf/Hearing Impaired (Blackwell, Farmer-Butterfield Sponsors). HB 625 as originally filed sought to create a Deaf Child’s Bill of Rights that would mandate that an IEP team consider a child’s individual communication needs. A committee substitute that turned the bill into a study that would establish the Study Committee on Establishing a Bill of Rights for Deaf or Hearing Impaired Children was approved by the House Judiciary A committee and referred to House Rules.



HB 646, Prison Hospital Completion (Daughtry Sponsor). The bill allows the Department of Correction to use funds allocated for 2 capital projects that came in under budget to finish the hospital at Central Prison (funds will be used to finish the facility, purchase medical equipment, and expand the kitchen). The prison hospital will have 120 beds and will include beds for inmates with psychiatric needs. The bill received a favorable report from Senate Health Care committee last week and will next be heard by the full Senate.

HB 677, Discharge of Adult Care Home Residents (Lewis). HB 677 seeks to change the law governing Adult Care Home discharge of residents. A committee substitute that Disability Rights NC and other advocacy groups worked on with the industry and the department was approved by the House Health and Human Services committee on Tuesday. The committee substitute no longer places sole responsibility for discharge on the Department of Social Services nor does it provide immunity to an adult care home that attempts to discharge an individual for behaviors if the resident remains at the adult care home. The committee substitute creates an Adult Care Home Discharge team that will facilitate finding an appropriate placement for a discharged resident, and places final decision making authority over discharge with a Division of Medical Assistance Hearing Unit. The bill was further amended by Representative Blackwell on the House floor before receiving approval from the full House – the amendments clarified that until an appeal is resolved or while a decision on appropriate placement is pending of the team, the resident will remain in the placement unless the resident consents to another placement; and that the person designated to receive notice of discharge and the resident’s legal representative will receive notice of discharge. The bill will next be heard in the Senate Health Care committee. The interested parties continue to work to improve the bill.



HB 678, Pilot Release of Inmates to Adult Care Homes (Lewis Sponsor). HB 678 seeks to establish a pilot program to allow certain inmates released from confinement to be placed in an Adult Care Home (only the inmates selected for the pilot will reside in the facility) to receive Personal Care Services and Medication Management. A committee substitute received a favorable report from the House Health and Human Services committee and a favorable vote from the full House last week. The bill will next be heard in the Senate Health Care committee.



HB 736, Amend Law re: School Discipline (Langdon, Luebke, Daughtry, Lucas Sponsors). HB 736 seeks to make a number of changes to Chapter 115C regarding school discipline with the goal of keeping students in school. It is a consensus bill supported by Disability Rights NC that numerous entities representing schools and students contributed to. The bill had previously been considered in the House and the Senate but the House and Senate versions crossed over separately. Thus, one version of the bill needed to proceed through the other chamber before becoming law. HB 736 received a favorable report from the Senate Education committee and the full Senate last week. However, the bill was amended on the Senate floor to incorporate the language regarding corporal punishment that is laid out in SB 498 (which has passed the Senate but has not yet been taken up in the House). Thus, the sponsor of HB 736, Representative Langdon, asked the House not to concur since the House has not voted on the separate Corporal Punishment bill yet (although SB 498 is scheduled to be taken up in the House Education committee on Tuesday morning) . A conference committee has been appointed and the expectation is that the committee will remove the corporal punishment language and report back this week.



HB 808, Revise Laws on Adult Care Homes (Burr). HB 808 seeks to waive annual inspections of Adult Care Homes that achieve the highest rating, and to develop an informal dispute resolution procedure that allows Adult Care Homes to dispute cited inspection deficiencies. A committee substitute was approved by the Senate Health Care committee this week and the bill is scheduled to be considered by the full Senate on Tuesday.



HB 916, Statewide Expansion of 1915(b)/(c) Waiver (Barnhart, Burr, Insko Sponsors). HB 916 seeks to have managed care behavioral health waiver (modeled after PBH) statewide by July 1, 2013, and sets out specific requirements for the expansion of this managed care behavioral health Medicaid waiver. For DRNC’s updated position paper on the 1915 b/c waiver, please click here. The bill was heard over the course of 2 meetings of the Senate Mental Health committee last week, an unusual occurrence to dedicate so much time to one bill during crossover week. On Wednesday, after a great deal of testimony from the sponsors and the Secretary, only a few minutes were left for public comment. After one parent of an adult child with DD spoke, the committee moved to adjourn without a vote as they were out of time. This left other members of the public without the opportunity to speak. Thus, the committee met again on Thursday morning and voted to approve the legislation. The full Senate voted 29-16 to approve the bill later that day. The bill will now be sent to the Governor.

SB 8, No Cap on Number of Charter Schools (Stevens sponsor). This bill eliminates the existing cap of 100 charter schools. This bill has been in conference between the House and Senate for the past 2 months. The conference committee reported in this week. The legislation now simply lifts the cap on charter schools. The compromise agreement removes the current limit of 100 charters and allows existing schools to increase annual enrollment by 20 percent. The conference report scraps some of the more controversial provisions - including one that would have granted broader authority to an independent charter board to approve new schools. The latest version also no longer requires charters to provide transportation or free and reduced lunches to low-income students. The Governor is expected to approve the compromise legislation.

SB 465, Behavioral Health Management (Hartsell Sponsor). SB 465, as originally filed, sought to allow LMEs that are operating under Medicaid Managed Care waivers (i.e., 1915(b) or 1915(b)/(c) combo waivers like PBH) to organize under Chapter 131E of the General Statutes, Article 2 governing Public Hospitals. A committee substitute that changed the bill into a study directing the Program Evaluation Division of the General Assembly to study the impact of Medicaid waivers, LME consolidation, and LME expansion on the current governance model for area authorities, single-county programs, and multicounty programs established under Chapter 122C, was approved by the Senate Mental Health Committee and the full Senate last week. It has been referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.



SB 496, now known as Medicaid and Health Choice Provider Req (was PPACA/Required Fraud and Abuse Provisions) (Pate Sponsor). SB 496 seeks to implement screening for Medicaid and Health Choice providers, identifying providers of certain types of services as low, moderate or high risk. It also provides for criminal history record checks for certain providers. It was approved by the Senate Health committee and the full Senate last week, and the bill has now been referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.



SB707, School Violence Prevention Act (Tucker). SA committee substitute for this bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary II committee this week. While the committee substitute removed many of the provisions of particular concern to Disability Rights NC, we did not oppose the bill moving forward as the bill sponsor expressed a desire to continue to work on the bill. However, the bill was pulled from the Senate floor and re-referred to the Senate Appropriations committee, where it will need to be heard before proceeding to the Senate floor. However, because of the appropriations issue, the bill does not need to meet the crossover deadline.



SB 781, Regulatory Reform Act of 2011 (Rouzer and H. Brown, Sponsors). SB 781 amends Chapter 150B of the NC general statutes to add requirements for agencies in rulemaking, and analysis of the fiscal impact of rules. It also incorporates changes regarding final agency decision-making authority. SB 781 received favorable reports from the Senate Agriculture/ Environment/Natural Resources and Commerce committees, as well as approval from the full Senate last week. It will now proceed to the House.

Bill Update for the Week of May 30

Both chambers were busy with the state budget last week, which successfully passed both chambers and is now with the Governor.  The details of the budget will be detailed in a separate post.  The coming week promises to be very busy as we approach the cross-over deadline on Thursday. 

The following bills had action this week:

HB 115, North Carolina Health Benefit Exchange Act (Dockham, Brubaker, Wray, Murry Sponsors). HB 115 seeks to establish a Health Benefit Exchange to make available qualified health benefit plans beginning in 2014. This bill creates a version of the exchange that is governed by a board that includes insurers as voting members and is lacking in consumer protections. Last week we reported that HB 115 passed the House. It was referred to the Senate Rules Committee this week, which is a sign that the Senate will not take the bill up this session.




HB 233, Department of Correction/Ex-Offenders (Pierce, Bryant, M. Alexander, Frye Sponsors). This bill was a recommendation of the Joint Select Committee on Ex Offender Reintegration into Society. HB 233 designates the Department of Correction (DOC) Office of Research and Planning (ORP), as the single State agency responsible for the coordination and implementation of ex-offender reentry policy initiatives, including the StreetSafe Task Force, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative of the Council of State Governments (CSG), and the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Ex Offender Reintegration into Society. HB 233 successfully passed the full House last week and is now in the Senate where it was referred to the Senate Rules committee.

HB 344, Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities (Stam, Randleman, Jordan and Jones Sponsors). The bill creates an individual income tax credit for families of children with disabilities who require special education and are attending a nonpublic school, including home school. The credit is equal to the amount the taxpayer paid for tuition and special education and related services expenses, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) per semester. It also creates a Fund for Special Education and Related Services, with $2,000 per tax credit given being transferred to the Fund each year. A committee substitute for HB 344 received a favorable report from the House Finance committee last week. It has now been referred to House Appropriations.



HB 374, Eugenics Records/Public Records Exemption (Womble and Parmon Sponsors). The bill makes clear that records in the custody of the State concerning the North Carolina Eugenics Board program are not public records to the extent they concern: (i) persons impacted by the program, (ii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the impact of the program on them, (iii) persons or their guardians or authorized agents inquiring about the potential impact of the program on others. It also states that a person impacted by the program may obtain that person's individual records under the program, and a guardian or authorized agent of that person may also obtain them. HB 374 received a favorable report from House Judiciary A this week and successfully passed the full House. It will next be referred to a Senate committee.



HB 417, Extend Time for Site of Low/Moderate Income Housing (McGrady Sponsor). HB 417 seeks to extend the time, for tax purposes, that real property may be held by a non-profit organization as a future site for housing for individuals or families with low or moderate incomes from 5 to 10 years. HB 417 successfully passed the full House this week and will now proceed to the Senate.



HB 474, Protect Adult Care Home Residents (Weiss, Hollo, Farmer-Butterfield, Earle Sponsors). HB 474 proposes changes to Chapter 131D governing adult care homes to increase minimum continuing education, training, competency evaluation and inspection requirements for Adult Care Home medication aides, related to Infection Control Requirements. HB 474 was signed into law this week, and is now Chaptered Session Law 2011 99.



HB 542, Tort Reform for Citizens and Businesses (Rhyne, McComas, Brisson and Crawford Sponsors). HB 542 seeks to make several changes to the NC General Statutes regarding tort cases but most significantly seeks to protect the makers of any drug approved by the FDA. As filed the bill had many other aspects to it, which are now being addressed in other legislation. HB 542 passed the House this week and will now proceed to the Senate.

HB 622, Nursing Homes/Food Service Inspections (McCormick, Stevens, Cleveland, Glazier Sponsors), was previously titled “Article 3A Administrative Procedures.” The bill now seeks to allow nursing homes and nursing home beds licensed under Chapter 131E that are also certified by Medicare and Medicaid to be limited to one food service inspection per year unless the facility receives a grade "B" or lower on its annual inspection. It is scheduled to be heard in the House Health and Human Services committee Tuesday.

HB 641, Certificate of Relief Act (Guice, Floyd Sponsors). HB 641 seeks to establish a Certificate of Relief under state law that will allow certain individuals convicted of a crime to seek relief from “collateral consequences,” of the conviction. It successfully passed the House this week and will next be heard in the Senate.


HB 656, Photo ID for Certain Controlled Substances (Guice, Ingle, Faircloth Sponsors). HB 656 seeks to direct pharmacies to require photo identification prior to dispensing Schedule II Controlled Substances. Schedule II includes a number of drugs for pain relief, as well as any drug that contains amphetamine (like Adderall). HB 656 passed the full House this week and will next be heard in the Senate.



HB 659, Capital Procedure/Severe Mental Disability (Stevens, Glazier, McGrady, Harrison Sponsors). This is a Disability Rights NC agenda bill. It seeks to amend the capital trial, sentencing and postconviction procedures for a person with a severe mental disability to address the issue upfront in trial, and to remove the death penalty as the highest punishment if the individuals qualifies as a person with severe mental disability under the law. It also seeks to provide that Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity is not an available defense if prior alcohol or drug use are the sole cause of the psychosis. HB 659 received a favorable report from the House Appropriations committee last week. It was then heard on the House floor on Thursday, where the bill was amended in an attempt to placate the district attorneys, who are now very opposed to the bill. Because of the sudden concern about opposition from the district attorneys, the bill was postponed until Friday. On Friday evening, the House again took up the bill. Representative Tim Moore moved to amend the bill to remove the post-conviction section. After some discussion with other representatives pointing out how such an amendment would weaken the bill, Moore withdrew his amendment but objected to 3d reading to temporarily displace the bill. Finally, the full House voted 84-31 with strong bipartisan support in favor of the bill. To see who voted for and against click here.


HB 709, Protect and Put NC Back to Work (Folwell, Dollar, Hager, Crawford Sponsors). HB 709 seeks to reform the Workers’ Compensation Act. It passed the full House this week and has been referred to the Senate Insurance committee.


HB 855, Personal Learning Plan for Each Child (Brandon). HB 855, as originally filed, sought to require public schools to provide a Personal Education Plan for every student. However, the version that proceeded through the House last week adds a new section to Chapter 115C of the state statutes to create personal learning plans, which are self-assessments, for students in grade 6 through high school who do not have an IEP or a PEP. It successfully passed the House and has been referred to the Senate Education committee.


HB 887, Zoning/ Temp. Family Health Care Structures (Moffitt, Howard, Setzer sponsors). This bill requires cities to allow Temporary Family Health Care Structures, which are transportable residential structures, providing an environment facilitating a caregiver's provision of care for a mentally or physically impaired person, that (i) is primarily assembled at a location other than its site of installation, (ii) is limited to one occupant who shall be the mentally or physically impaired person, (iii) has no more than 300 gross square feet, and (iv) complies with applicable provisions of the State Building Code and G.S. 143 139.1(b). A committee substitute developed in a subcommittee was approved by the House Government Committee this week. The bill will next be heard in House Finance.

HB 916, Statewide Expansion of 1915(b)/(c) Waiver (Barnhart, Burr, Insko Sponsors). HB 916 seeks to have the waiver statewide by July 1, 2013, and sets out specific requirements for the expansion of this managed care behavioral health Medicaid waiver. For DRNC’s updated position paper on the 1915 b/c waiver, please click here.  Despite numerous consumers and family members speaking against, and many concerns raised by the committee members, a committee substitute was heard and voted on favorably in the House Health and Human Services committee last week. The committee substitute added two functions that the managed care entities may subcontract: treatment plan development and referral services. This addition was a concession to the Arc of NC, who officially dropped his opposition to the bill, although it does not support the bill. The bill was then passed by the full House in a 92-24 vote on Wednesday. The bill was amended to add stakeholder input as a requirement for the Department in developing the strategic plan that will be submitted to the appropriate Oversight Committee of the General Assembly. It will now be referred to the Senate.

SB 578, Facilitate Transfer SPH Beds Com. Facility (Hartsell) was formerly titled “LME Minimum Population.” SB 578 now weeks to allow the Secretary of DHHS to transfer beds from a State psychiatric hospital to a community facility pursuant to the State Medical Facilities Plan Policy PSY 1 without a written memorandum of agreement between the local management entity serving the county where the beds are to be located and the facility submitting the proposal if certain conditions are met, including that the facility submits a CON application, the facility commits to serve the type of short term patients normally placed at the State psychiatric hospital, the facility proposing to operate the beds is a provider created under G.S. 131E 17 and the facility proposing to operate the beds is in a single county area authority. The bill is intended to fix an issue in the Mecklenburg catchment area that has prevented the transfer of beds from Broughton to the Carolinas Medical Center (the beds at Broughton are un-staffed so this will not decrease, but rather increase, available beds). It received a favorable report from the Senate Mental Health committee and will be voted upon in the full Senate next week.