Legislative Updates

From Jean Jones
DVR/DVS Legislative Information Representative

2009 ~ 2008 ~ 2007

5-19-08

Down to the Wire…..

The State Legislature now plans to adjourn a week early, on May 23, this Friday. All bills sent to conference committees were due out of committee by Thursday, May 15. Following is status information on bills of potential interest to rehabilitation and disability communities.

Note: Normally, the Governor has five days (excluding Sundays) after a bill is sent to him by the Legislature to sign or veto the bill. If he doesn’t sign or veto the bill within five days, it becomes law without his signature. These rules change at the end of the legislative session, when the Governor no longer has five days in which to return a bill to the Legislature because the Legislature is preparing to adjourn. At this time a bill will not become law without the Governor’s signature. No bill becomes a law after the final adjournment of the Legislature unless approved by the Governor within 15 days after adjournment. If the Governor fails to sign a bill during this period, it is effectively vetoed (often called a “pocket veto”).

DRS appropriation

SB-1283: The DRS funding bill has cleared the Legislature and gone to the Governor. We did receive the $351,000 in added state funds needed to match all available federal funds for next year. We also received an added $136,000 to cover mandated teacher step increases for the coming year, at OSD and OSB, plus $27,000 for operations at the two schools - each will get half. However, none of the one-time safety, security and access needs at the schools were funded.
Just to give a sense of figures:

• VR and VS got $14,443,379.00 in state funds. With federal dollars included, VR and VS will have total funds of $89,000,000.00 for the coming fiscal year.
• OSB receives $6,980,210.00 in state dollars, with total state and federal funds of $9,350,000.00.
• OSD’s state funds are $8,630,181.00, with total state and federal funds at $12,850,000.00.
• DDD is all federally funded at $27,800,000.00.

The totals for the department are $30,053,770.00 in state funds and $139 million in combined state and federal funds. (See also HB-2276, a General Appropriations bill.)

Home care assistants
HB-2642 (Peters; Ford) This bill affects private duty home care agencies and their staff who hire out to provide personal in-home assistance for individuals. (Private duty agencies are those that do not accept Medicare.) The bill requires training for these personal care assistants and requires a plan of training to be developed and followed. A conference report was submitted 5-14-08.

Wheelchair evaluations
HB-2703 (Steele; Constance Johnson) This bill would require expert specialty “wheeled mobility” evaluations for Medicaid recipients who need wheelchairs or power mobility equipment. The bill is intended to provide more appropriate and usable wheelchairs for individuals while making Medicaid more cost effective in its expenditures for this type of equipment. HB-2703 was assigned to conference last week, but it is uncertain whether a conference report has gotten in before the deadline. A potential problem surfaced late in the game, with House leadership indicating they may have a problem with the bill’s budget impact. At question is whether or not federal Medicaid money can be used to match state dollars paid for the wheelchair evaluations. If House leaders have not been able to get this question resolved, HB-2703 will not come out this year.

Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Advisory Council
HB-3132 (Enns; Barrington) This bill extends the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Advisory Council until July 1, 2010. An amendment regarding disposal of state electronic records was removed from the bill by the conference committee, clearing the way for consideration of a final bill that does not have any budget impact.

Transportation; highway funding
HB-3342 (Thompson; Bingman) This is just one of a few bills that would redirect some tax revenues to roads and bridges, making potentially hundreds of millions of dollars available for road and bridge work, but none for public transit. The House, Senate and Governor are still working to reach an agreement on transportation infrastructure funding, and something on this should be announced in the next 2-3 days.

Public transportation
HB-2380 is an appropriation bill for the state Department of Transportation. The bill provides for the transfer of $1.9 million from the State Highway Construction and Maintenance Fund to the Public Transit Revolving Fund. (Added funds for the Transit Revolving Fund will include the $850,000 provided each year by law from a portion of motor fuels fax that goes into the state Transportation Fund, and an amount to be determined resulting from 2005 legislation that created a road funding formula with a tiny allowance for transit and rail.) This bill also authorized ODOT to use funds to match federal funds that may be available under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 to reconstruct or replace public transportation facilities or remove debris or wreckage from such facilities. The bill is on its way to the Governor.

Voting - Proof of identify
SB-1150 (Ford; Tibbs) This bill went down to the wire. The version finally before the Senate on fourth reading and final passage provided for a range of documents that could be used to meet its requirement for proof of voter identify, including the state ID, driver license, passport, utility bills, bank statements, voter ID card, paycheck, or other ID showing name and address. This would have to be presented when voting in person or a copy sent in when voting absentee. Disability interest in voter proof of identify legislation has centered on the transportation and personal assistance costs that prevent some from easily obtaining the official state identification card. This bill got a 24 “yes” and 23 “no” vote, but because it failed to receive a majority (25), it failed. The vote was held on a motion to reconsider, but that motion expired with no re-vote.

Handicapped parking
SB-1384 (Barrington; Billy) This bill eliminates the $1 fee for the disability parking placard. Another part of the measure deals with accident liability for state agencies operating vehicles. The bill went to a conference committee, but there is no indication as yet that a report was submitted by last week’s deadline.

Pedestrians
SB-1386 (Barrington; Dorman) This is the bill that addresses right turns, and lets drivers in unincorporated areas use the right shoulder of a road to approach and turn right. An earlier version applied this traffic law change to all roads. This measure has raised pedestrian safety concerns for organizations of the blind. The bill passed the Senate and was assigned to the House General Government and Transportation. No further action is shown for this bill, but it is still listed as alive.

Mental health first aid
SB-1422 (Paddack; Steele) This bill directs the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to establish a pilot program of mental health first aid. The purpose would be to train non-mental health professionals in how to support an individual in a mental health crisis situation until professional help can be obtained. The House passed a substitute that directed the Mental Health Department to provide certification of person so trained. The bill was sent to a conference committee, but it is not known yet whether a conference version was submitted by the deadline.

Disability parking placards
SB-1494 (Anderson; Enns) This bill would let tag agents renew physical disability parking placards, and would also delete the $1 fee for placards. The bill passed both houses but shows no action since then.

Elderly and vulnerable adults
SB-1600 (Justice; Coody) This bill amends state law on assault and battery. It provides that when the victim of assault or battery is an elderly or incapacitated person, the offense shall be punishable as a felony. It provides added penalties for this kind of crime against an elderly or disabled person. The bill went to conference, but it is not yet known if a final version was prepared by the deadline.

Students with disabilities
HB-2518 (Sherrer; Burrage) This bill would allow for the transfer of children with disabilities to another school to become a permanent transfer after three consecutive years. Senate amendments to the bill specify that the funding for that child follows them if a transfer is made. HB-2518 has been approved by both houses and should next be sent to the Governor.

Task Force on Mentally Ill Incarcerated Women
SB-1959 (Constance Johnson; Kern) This bill would create a task force to study the effects of incarceration on women who are mentally ill and have been incarcerated. The task force would study the roles and responsibilities of several agencies, including DRS, in providing treatment and services for this population. The bill passed the Senate and a House committee, but was not taken up by the full House. It is dead for this session.

Autism
HCR-1067 (Dank) declares April as Autism Awareness Month. Approved by both houses.

SB-1686 (Easley; Jeannie McDaniel) This bill would have required an annual professional development segment on autism for teachers through grade three. The measure died in the House.

A host of bills to require health insurance plans to cover autism have all failed to survive. Senator Jay Paul Gumm has led the fight to secure health coverage for autism, while Rep. Ron Peterson has led opponents in objecting to increased insurance costs that could result from such coverage.

SB-2071 (Jolley; Miller) This measure calls on the University of Central Oklahoma to establish an autism training program for educators. The bill was assigned to conference, with no final version submitted as yet.

OSD
HB-1546 (Winchester; Justice) This is a bill from last year that provides that if any funds are available from the DRS appropriation, $941,000 shall be used to establish an Oklahoma School for the Deaf regional service center on the campus of the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma at Chickasha. This bill remains alive. It was assigned to a conference committee, with Senate GCCA members and Winchester, Richardson, Hilliard, Dorman, Coody, Jones, and Miller of the House as conferees. This committee will have to quickly submit a conference report in order for the bill to continue this session.

OSB and OSD
SB-1941 (Lamb; Blackwell) This is the Oklahoma School Security Act. It contains a number of provisions aimed at student safety and security. Most of its provisions principally affect public schools. Two sections may affect OSD and OSB. The bill requires annual reviews of school plans for disaster response. It also authorizes a grant program by the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security to make grants available to public and private schools and institutes of higher education for security and emergency preparedness purposes. The bill has cleared both houses and been sent to the Governor.

Disability Determination Division
A problem has surfaced affecting health facility acceptance of Social Security medical information release forms that are needed to allow the DRS Disability Determination Division to gather medical information necessary to process disability claims An effort is being made to correct the problem through an amendment to current state law. A possible vehicle for this amendment will be SB-1420, a bill dealing with health information exchange. This bill has been assigned to a conference committee, but no final bill has yet been released from the committee. A final version will have to be submitted very soon in order for the bill, with our amendment, to complete the legislative process.

Developmental disabilities
SB-1192 (Adelson; Sullivan) Expanding the definition of community services worker to include, in addition to persons providing services under a DHS home and community based waiver, certain persons paid by the Health Care Authority to provide habilitation, homemaker and specialized foster care to persons with developmental disabilities. The bill also defines “maltreatment.” It applies the same screening and criminal background check requirements to OHCA personal care providers as are already in place for DHS community services workers. This bill has been signed into law by the Governor.

Stem cell research and treatment
HB-3060 ( Hamilton; Gumm) This bill creates a public umbilical cord blood bank to allow Oklahoma families to donate and store cord blood that contains adult stem cells which can later be used in therapies to combat illnesses such as some cancers, leukemia and some immune disorders. Funding will be sought from public and private sources. The bill has been signed into law by the Governor.

Other measures

State employee pay: At this time there is no indication that a state employee pay raise is forthcoming. Most state agencies have receive level or reduced funding, and what increases have been provided have gone principally to education and corrections. A few days of the session remain and some action could be taken on state employee pay, but there is no obvious funding source for an increase, and it is considered unlikely.

A bill by Rep. Ron Peterson to change the way the public employee benefit allowance is calculated failed earlier in the session. This bill could have reduced the benefit allowance requiring state workers to pay more for their health insurance.

Bills to increase statutory funding for public transit from $3 to $5 million annually, to look at creating a bullet train, to set aside some vehicle tax money for passenger rail, and to let the people vote on letting transportation companies give away free rides - all failed to make it through the Legislature this year.

Also failing was a measure to change to way health insurance legislation is handled, making it harder to pass bills that call for health insurance coverage for specific conditions, such as autism.