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.
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.
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