Legislative Update for the Week of April 22

Bill Update

 

HB 452, 2013 School Safety Act (Holloway, Glazier, Faircloth, Lucas). HB 452 was approved by the House Education Appropriations subcommittee and the full House this week.  The bill was amended in Appropriations to remove the 3 sections that sought funding for school counselors, installation of panic buttons  and additional School Resource Officers.  Sponsor Representative Holloway, a House Appropriations chairman, said he is committed to still pursuing those changes during the budget process. The bill still requires system-wide lock-down drills in each school district every two years, the placement of school crisis kits in all schools,  a requirement for school districts to give maps and master keys of each school to local law enforcement agencies,  and anonymous tip lines.  It would also allow local boards of education to enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies to assign volunteer school safety resource officers at schools. The volunteers would have to have experience in either law enforcement or the military.

 

HB 492, Safeguard Qualified IndividualsMedicaid PCS (Dollar). A new version of HB 492 was approved by the House Health Committee this week.  HB 492 now would allow for an additional 50 hours per month of Medicaid Personal Care Services (“PCS”) for recipients who meet the PCS eligibility criteria and the following additional criteria:  requires an increased level of supervision; requires caregivers with training or experience in caring for individuals who have a degenerative disease, characterized by irreversible memory dysfunction, that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking, and behavior including gradual memory loss, impaired judgment, disorientation, personality change, difficulty in learning, and the loss of language skills; regardless of setting, the recipient requires a physical environment that includes modifications and safety measures to safeguard the recipient because of the recipient's gradual memory loss, impaired judgment, disorientation, personality change, difficulty in learning, and the loss of language skills; and recipient exhibits safety concerns related to inappropriate wandering, ingestion, aggressive behavior, and an increased incidence of falls.  It will next be heard in the Appropriations committee.

 

HB 543, MH/DD/SA Providers as Uncompensated Guardians (Jones, Avila, Glazier, Turner). HB 543 was amended in the House Health and Human Services committee this week to limit the new language allowing providers to serve as uncompensated guardians to those providers appointed to serve as guardians on or before March 1, 2013.  It won approval by the full House and will now proceed to the Senate.

 

HB 589, VIVA (Voter Information Verification Act) (Warren, Murry, Moore, Samuelson). HB 589 proposes a photo ID requirement for voters. The bill was approved by the full House this week.  The provision pertaining to identification for curbside voters was amended to remove the option of a declaration by an individual accompanying the voter.  Individuals voting curbside may still use a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document to prove their identity.  The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules committee.

 

HB 605, Establish Aging Subcommittee/HHS Oversight (Dollar, Burr, Hurley, Farmer-Butterfield). HB 605 directs the HHS Oversight Committee to appoint a Subcommittee on Aging to examine the State's delivery of services for older persons in order to determine their service needs and make recommendations to the HHS Oversight Committee on how to address their service needs. The bill was approved by the House Health and Human Services committee and the full House this week.  The bill was amended on the House floor by Rep. Cotham to add two additional representatives to the subcommittee: a licensed provider of home and community based services and a representative of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association.

 

HB 625, Zoning/Health Care Structure (Moffitt, Howard, Setzer, Ramsey). HB 625 will allow a ”temporary family health care structure” to be used by a caregiver in providing care for a “mentally or physically impaired person.”  It was approved by the House Government committee this week and will next be heard in the House Finance committee.

 

HB 635, Involuntary Commitment Custody Orders (Lambeth, Conrad, Terry, Hanes). A Proposed Committee Substitute for HB 635 was approved by the House Judiciary C subcommittee this week.   The bill will allow the clerk or magistrate to issue an order by fax or an electronically scanned order by electronic transmission to a physician or eligible psychologist at a 24 hour facility to take a respondent into custody at the 24 hour facility and proceed according to G.S. 122C 266.  The physician, eligible psychologist, or designee (which includes the 24 hour facility's on site police security personnel) must complete a training in proper service and return of service before this procedure may be used.  The bill also now directs DHHS to cooperate and collaborate with the Administrative Office of the Courts and the UNC School of Government to develop protocols to implement this section, including a procedure for notifying clerks and magistrates of the names of the physicians, psychologists, and designees who have completed the training. The Secretary of the Department shall oversee implementation of these protocols.  The bill is scheduled for a vote by the full House next week.

 

HB 937, Amend Various Firearms Laws (Schaffer, Burr, Faircloth, Cleveland). HB 937 seeks a number of changes to the state laws related to guns. It was amended in the House Judiciary A committee this week to add provisions related to reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), as well as the restoration process to remove a mental commitment bar. It broadens the grounds upon which a person shall be reported to the NICS to include involuntary commitments (inpatient, outpatient and substance abuse); not guilty by reason of insanity; mentally incompetent to proceed to criminal trial; and lacks the capacity to manage the individual's own affairs due to marked subnormal intelligence or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease. It is scheduled for a full House vote on Tuesday of next week.

SB 137, Prohibit Waiver Co-Pay/Medicaid Providers (Tillman). SB 137 was approved by the Senate Health Care committee and the full Senate this week.  It was amended in committee to make it clear that waivers are prohibited but not listing it in the statute pertaining to Medical Assistance provider fraud.  It is not a violation to waive the co-payment is the waiver is authorized by the state program; the provider determines on an individual basis that the collection would create a substantial financial hardship; the provider has made a good faith effort to collect the co-payment; or if the provider is a state-operated health care facility.  It will now proceed to the House.

 

SB 516, Public School Regulatory Reform (Tillman).  SB 516 seeks to streamline and study certain reporting requirements for public schools.   It was amended in the Senate Education committee to adds Disability Rights NC and ECAC to a Commission to study Exceptional Children's (“EC”) Services.  The Commission will review all aspects of EC services and oversight by DPI.  It will recommend ways to limit reporting requirements and compliance measures, examining, among other things: forms and paperwork required by DPI to be submitted by IEP teams,  student performance assessments, class size and caseload requirements for children with disabilities, costs study on cost to educate students with disabilities and use the information to propose revisions needed to current state allotment formula.  It is scheduled for a vote in the full Senate next week.