Legislative Update for the Week of March 11

Bill Updates

HB 109, Require Safety Helmets/18 & Under (Torbett, Speciale).  HB 109 seeks to eliminate the requirements of a safety helmet for adults on a motorcycle if (1) the operator has held a motorcycle license for more than 12 months or successfully completed the course of instruction offered by the Motorcycle Safety Instruction Program; and (2) is covered by an insurance policy providing for at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of a crash while operating or riding on a motorcycle.  The bill was heard in the House Transportation committee last week but was not voted upon.  There was a successful amendment by Rep. Iler to raise the age from 18 to 21, based on safety concerns.  There were speakers on both sides.  The bill is scheduled again for the Transportation committee on Tuesday, March 19 at Noon.

 

SB45, Incapacity to Proceed (Randleman). SB 45 received a favorable report from the House Judiciary B committee last week.  Rep. Glazier offered two amendments in committee which were approved – one was to correct a typo, and the other made clear that the time during which a defendant is involuntarily committed to an in-patient facility counts toward the period of confinement, for dismissal purposes.  It is scheduled for its final votes on the House floor on Tuesday, March 19.

 

SB223, Severance and Relocation for Area Directors (Hise).  SB 223 seeks to amend the state statute to allow an area board of an LME to offer severance and relocation benefits to recruit an area director.  It received a favorable report from the Senate Health committee last week and has been referred to the Senate Appropriations committee.

 

New Legislation Filed this week

 HB 269, Children with Disabilities Scholarship Grants (Jordan, Brandon, Jones, Stam).  HB 269 seeks to repeal the tax credit for families of children with disabilities who send their children to a non-public school, and, instead, enact a scholarship in the same amount, $3000, for the reimbursement of tuition and special education and related services, including services provided to home schooled students. The bill seeks an appropriation of $3,670,500 for the 2013‑2014 fiscal year and $4,341,000 for the 2014‑2015 fiscal year in recurring funds - $3 mil per year for scholarship grants and a portion of the remaining amount to re-evaluate students. It has been referred to the House Education committee and Finance.

 

HB 273, Charter School/LEA Accounting of Funds (Hardister, Malone, Brandon, Stam).  HB 273 seeks to amend NCGS 115C‑238.29H(b) to require a detailed accounting and timeline for funds transferred to charter schools, with a penalty of interest if the local school administrative unit does not comply.  It has been referred to the House Education and Finance committees.

 

HB 274, Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Blust, Jones, Holloway, Starnes).  HB 274 seeks to limit increases in the state budget, including through the proposal of constitutional amendment that would limit increases to a set formula.  It has been referred to the House Government, Finance and Appropriations committees.

 

HB 287, Increase Dropout Age from 16 to 17 (Lambeth, Moffitt, Brandon, D. Ross).  HB 287 does exactly what it says – raises the dropout age to 17.  It has been referred to the House Education and Judiciary C committees.

 

HB 308, Funds/MHDDSA Services/Non-Medicaid Eligibles (Insko, Earle).  HB 308 seeks to allocate $78 mil for MH/DD/SA services specifically for individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid.  It has been referred to the House Appropriations committee.

 

HB 310, Handgun Permit Modernization Act (Jordan, Hastings, Brody, Szoka).  HB 310 seeks to amend the state law relating to a concealed handgun permit by removing the provision in NCGS § 14‑415.13 that authorizes and requires disclosure to the sheriff of any records concerning the mental health or capacity of the applicant to be used for the sole purpose of determining whether the applicant is disqualified for a permit.  Instead, the sheriff shall rely on information from the  National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which relies on information from the state related to Involuntary Commitments.  Grass Roots North Carolina, which supports the bill,  says that North Carolina’s sheriffs handle the mental health clearance arbitrarily and inconsistently now.

 

HB 317, Improve Education for Children Who Are Deaf (Blackwell, Farmer-Butterfield, Holloway, Martin)/SB 320 (Daniel, Newton).  HB 317 would mandate that the State Board of Education do at least all of the following to improve the educational outcomes for North Carolina children who are deaf or hard of hearing: (1) Develop assessment procedures and protocols to measure, at least annually or more frequently if specified in a child's IEP, the acquisition of language skills necessary for literacy using linguistically and culturally appropriate assessment tools. The results of these assessments shall be used to determine whether further support and services, if any, are needed for a child. (2) Require an IEP team to use the Comprehensive Exceptional Children Accountability System, Communication Plan Worksheet for Student Who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing, to document (i) the team's consideration of the language and communication needs of the individual child as the IEP is developed, (ii) the placement decisions made for that child, and (iii) the team's review, at least annually, of the child's placement and language and communication needs. (3) Ensure that personnel who are highly qualified in the education of children who are deaf or hard of hearing are available to meet the unique needs of each child, including interactions in the child's language and communication modality to meet academic and social goals.  (4) Develop and implement strategies to ensure that parents of a child who is deaf and hard of hearing know they are entitled to request that the child's IEP team consider placement of their child in a residential setting and, if such a request is made, that a representative from one of the two North Carolina residential/day program schools for the deaf shall be a member of the IEP team.  It also directs DHHS to make databases containing information on children diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing available, upon request, to DPI for the purpose of tracking children who are deaf or hard of hearing.  It has not yet been referred to a committee.

 

HB 319, Dorothea Dix Lease (Burr, Avila, Cleveland, Hurley)/SB 334 (Hise, Pate, Tucker).  HB 319, if passed, would condemn the leasehold interest in the Dix property that was conveyed to the City of Raleigh.  It further specifies that any proceeds from sale or lease of the property shall be used solely for mental health treatment purposes, which the General Assembly determines under the doctrine of cy pres to be as near as may be to the purpose of its acquisition of the property for charitable purposes.  The bill does allow for the lease of a portion of the property for use as a public park, with any proceeds thereof allocated to mental health purposes.  It has not yet been referred to a committee.

 

HB 320, Medicaid Managed Care/Behavioral Health Services (Dollar, Burr).  HB 320 seeks to establish an entirely new statute governing Medicaid appeals for both recipients and providers under Managed Care. It presents a significant departure from the current appeals process, including removing the mediation process, narrowing the role and powers of OAH, and prohibits the filing of a contested case until an internal grievance procedure is followed.  It has not yet been assigned to a committee.

 

SB 267, Raise Compulsory School Attendance Age (Parmon, Graham).  SB 267 seeks to raise the compulsory school attendance age to 18.  It has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.

 

SB 278, Foster Children/Corporal Punishment Changes (Robinson, Barringer, Randleman).  SB 278 seeks to amend the corporal punishment law to exempt children in foster care (such children may not be subject to corporal punishment in their foster care placements).  It has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.

 

SB 329, UI/Some Formerly Disabled Workers Eligible (Cook).  SB 329 seeks to continue Unemployment Insurance benefits until July of this year for individuals, who prior to separation from employment due to no fault of their own, were (i) on short‑term or long‑term disability leave from the employer immediately before separation, (ii) medically released from the disability leave period after being deemed to be able to return to work with the employer and therefore no longer eligible for disability leave status with the employer, and (iii) not employed by another employer during the disability period.  It has not yet been referred to a committee.

 

SB 335, Payment of 2012-2013 Medicaid Costs (Brunstetter, Brown, Hunt).  SB 335 would authorize the state Director of Budget to make the following adjustments, in order, to cover the costs of the state Medicaid program: (1) $20.9 mil from funds not expended pursuant to the contingency funding provisions in last year’s budget; (2) $74 mil from drug rebate refunds; (3) $67 mil (min) from other projected reversions within the Department of Health and Human Services; and  (4) A maximum of $100 mil from projected reversions within State agencies other than DHHS.  It has not yet been referred to a committee.