COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4068
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
(Originating in the Committee on
Finance)
[March 2, 1998]
A Bill to amend chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred and thirty-one, as amended, by
adding a new article, designated ten-j, relating to the
traumatic brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund;
creating the traumatic brain and spinal cord injury
rehabilitation fund board; establishing qualifications and
terms for board members; authority of governor to appoint
members of board; removal of board members; authorizing
legislative rules; authorizing compensation for board
members; defining powers, duties and responsibilities of the
board; establishing the traumatic brain and spinal cord
injury rehabilitation fund; deposits and contributions into
the fund; administration of and uses of the fund; criteria
for fund uses; and reports to the Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article ten-j, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10J. WEST VIRGINIA TRAUMATIC BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD
INJURY REHABILITATION FUND ACT.
§18-10J-1. Terms defined.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Board" means the West Virginia traumatic brain and
spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund board.
(2) "Fund" means the West Virginia traumatic brain and
spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund.
(3) "Traumatic brain injury" means an acquired injury to the
brain, including brain injuries caused by anoxia due to near
drowning. "Traumatic brain injury" does not include brain
dysfunction caused by congenital or degenerative disorders, nor
birth trauma.
(4) "Spinal cord injury" means a traumatic injury to the
spinal cord that results in a permanent loss of sensation and
voluntary movement below the level of the lesion.
§18-10J-2. Board created, membership, terms, officers and staff.
(a) There is established the West Virginia traumatic brain
and spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund board.
(b) The board shall consist of twenty-three members as
follows:
(1) Secretary of the department of education and the arts,
ex officio, or his or her designee;
(2) Secretary of health and human resources, ex officio, or
his or her designee;
(3) State superintendent of schools, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(4) Secretary of the department of military affairs and
public safety, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(5) Director of the bureau of behavioral health within the
department of health and human resources, ex officio, or his or
her designee;
(6) Director of the division of rehabilitation services, ex
officio, or his or her designee;
(7) Director of the bureau of medical services, ex officio,
or his or her designee;
(8) Director of the office of emergency services, ex
officio, or his or her designee;
(9) Commissioner of the bureau of employment programs, ex
officio, or his or her designee;
(10) Seven members appointed by the governor to represent
public and private health organizations or other disability
coalitions or advisory groups; and
(11) Seven members appointed by the governor who are either
survivors of traumatic brain or spinal cord injury or family
members of persons with traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.
(c) The citizen members shall be appointed by the governor
for terms of three years, except that of the members first
appointed, two of the representatives of public and nonprofit
private health organizations, disability coalitions or advisory
groups and two of the representatives of survivors or family
members of persons with traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries
shall serve for terms of one year, two of the representatives of each of those respective groups shall serve for terms of two
years, and the remaining three representatives of each of those
respective groups shall serve for terms of three years. All
subsequent appointments shall be for three years. Members shall
serve until the expiration of the term for which they have been
appointed or until their successors have been appointed and
qualified. In the event of a vacancy the governor shall appoint
a qualified person to serve for the unexpired term. No member
may serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. State
officers or employees may be appointed to the board unless
otherwise prohibited by law.
(d) In the event a board member fails to attend more than
twenty-five percent of the scheduled meetings in a twelve-month
period, the board may, after written notification to that member
and the secretary of education and the arts, request in writing
that the governor remove the member and appoint a new member to
serve his or her unexpired term.
(e) The board shall elect from its membership a
chairperson, treasurer and secretary as well as any other officer
as appropriate. The term of the chairperson is for two years in
duration and he or she cannot serve more than two consecutive
terms.
§18-10J-3. Promulgation of legislative rules.
The board may propose any legislative rules, in accordance
with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, necessary for the transaction of its business or to
carry out the purposes of this article.
§18-10J-4. Compensation and expenses of board.
Members of the board are entitled to receive reimbursement
for reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the
performance of their duties as members of the board in accordance
with state travel regulations. Members with disabilities may
receive additional reimbursement for costs associated with
personal assistance, interpreters and disability-related
accommodations when those costs are incurred in the course of
conducting the business of the board. All reimbursement
authorized in this section shall be paid from moneys in the fund.
§18-10J-5. Fund created; administration of fund; administrative
fees; fund use.
(a) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
revenue account to be known as the "West Virginia traumatic brain
and spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund" which shall be under
the jurisdiction of the division of rehabilitation services. The
West Virginia traumatic brain and spinal cord injury
rehabilitation fund created by this act is subject to the annual
appropriation of funds by the Legislature. The West Virginia
traumatic brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund may
receive any gifts, grants, contributions or other money from any
source which is specifically designated for deposit in the fund.
(b) All moneys collected, received and deposited into the
state treasury and credited to the West Virginia traumatic brain
and spinal cord injury rehabilitation fund shall be expended by
the board exclusively in accordance with the uses and criteria
set forth in this article. Expenditures from this fund for any other purposes are void.
(c) The fund shall be administered by the division of
rehabilitation services under the department of education and the
arts. The division of rehabilitation services is authorized to
retain an amount not to exceed ten percent per annum of the
balance of the fund to cover any costs of administration of the
fund.
(d) Nothing in this article may be construed to mandate
funding for the West Virginia traumatic brain and spinal cord
injury rehabilitation fund or to require any appropriation by the
Legislature.
(e) Moneys in the fund shall be used to pay for services
that will increase opportunities for and enhance the achievement
of functional independence, and a return to a productive
lifestyle for individuals who have suffered a traumatic brain
injury or a spinal cord injury.
(f) Services that are eligible for payment by the fund shall
include, but not be limited to:
(1) Case management;
(2) Rehabilitative therapies and services;
(3) Attendant care;
(4) Home accessibility modifications;
(5) Equipment necessary for activities; and
(6) Family support services.
(g) Funds shall be expended according to the priorities and
criteria for disbursement established by the board under section
six of this article.
§18-10J-6. Criteria and priorities for use of fund.
(a) The board shall establish priorities and criteria for
the disbursement of moneys in the fund. When the board
determines that additional services should be eligible for
payments from the fund, the chairman shall provide written notice
to the division of rehabilitation services in the department of
education and the arts directing that those services be eligible
for payment by the fund.
(b) The board shall investigate the needs of citizens with
traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, identify the
gaps in services to these citizens, and issue an annual report to
the Legislature each year with recommendations for meeting the
identified needs, improving coordination of services and
summarizing its actions during the preceding year.
(c) Moneys expended for services described under section
five of this article shall be as a payer of last resort and only
for citizens of the state of West Virginia. Comparable benefits
and services available to an individual shall be utilized prior
to the expenditure of moneys available to that individual through
the fund.