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.
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.
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