ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 219
(By Senators Boley, Prezioso, Tomblin, Mr. President, Deem,
Anderson, Facemyer, Caldwell, Minear, Unger, Sprouse, Burnette,
Plymale, Hunter, McKenzie, Ross, Sharpe, Minard, Kessler, Edgell,
Bailey, Snyder, Jackson, Wooton, Fanning, Mitchell, Love, Rowe,
Redd and Helmick)
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[Originating in the Committee on Health and Human Resources;
reported March 7, 2001.]
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A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirty-eight,
relating to creating an Alzheimer's caregiver assistance
program to provide respite services for informal caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia;
authorizing the development of a check-off program on
individual income tax returns to fund the assistance program;
requiring the commissioner of the bureau of senior services to
administer and promote the assistance program; defining terms;
setting criteria for eligibility; restricting grants to the
availability of funds; requiring reports to the Legislature;
authorizing the commissioner to propose rules implementing the
program; and establishing effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirty-eight, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 38. ALZHEIMER'S CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
§16-38-1. Legislative intent.
By enacting this statute, the Legislature intends to create an
Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program and to provide for a
funding mechanism
to help provide respite services for informal
caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Funding for this
program shall be derived from a voluntary check-off and
contribution designation on state personal income tax return forms so that a portion or all of any refund due a taxpayer, or any
contribution a taxpayer may wish to submit in addition to tax owed,
may be transferred to the special fund created in this article,
along with any other contributions, grants, appropriations,
revenues or moneys obtained for the program.
§16-38-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article:
(a) "Alzheimer's association" means any national, state or
local association that assists or supports persons suffering from
Alzheimer's disease, their families or caregivers and has been
certified as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the provisions of
Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, as amended.
(b) "Alzheimer's disease" means a diagnosis of presenile
dementia or senile dementia-Alzheimer type (SDAT), characterized by
confusion, memory failure, disorientation, restlessness, agnosia,
speech disturbances, inability to carry out purposeful movements
and hallucinosis.
(c) "Assistance fund" means the Alzheimer's caregiver
assistance fund within the state treasury as created and designated
in this article.
(d) "Assistance program" means the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program created in this article.
(e) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the bureau of
senior services.
(f) "Informal caregiver" means any spouse, adult child,
relative or friend who provides unpaid assistance to a person
living in his or her own home or the home of another who suffers
from Alzheimer's disease, as that term is defined in this section.
(g) "Respite care" means temporary, substitute support or
living arrangements to provide a brief period of relief or rest for
caregivers, including in-home care provided by appropriately
trained individuals, adult day care or institutional care limited
to an overnight stay on an intermittent, occasional or emergency
basis.
§16-38-3. Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program
; eligibility
for grants; funding.
(a) There is hereby established within the bureau of senior
services the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program. The program
shall provide respite services for informal caregivers of persons
with Alzheimer's disease, within funds available therefor, through
grants from the assistance fund or other sources. Grants from the
assistance program shall be provided upon submission of
documentation satisfactory to the commissioner that the caregiver provides informal care for a person residing in this state who has
been diagnosed by a physician as having Alzheimer's disease and
whose caregiver is in need of respite services.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section fourteen-a,
article ten, chapter eleven of this code, the secretary of tax and
revenue shall design West Virginia personal income tax forms so
that each taxpayer may designate a portion or all of any tax refund
due him or her, or an amount submitted in addition to tax owed, to
the
Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program. The contribution
shall be in any whole dollar amount and may not reduce the amount
of state tax owed. The tax return shall include a separate line on
which the taxpayer may designate the amount of the contribution.
(c) The Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program shall be
funded from contributions received through the voluntary check-off
program and any other contributions, revenues, grants or
appropriations obtained or designated for the program.
(d) There is hereby established within the state treasury a
special account to be known as the "Alzheimer's Caregiver
Assistance Fund". All moneys collected pursuant to this article
and any other contributions, grants, funds, appropriations or other
revenue collected for the assistance program shall be deposited in this account. Distributions from this account may be made by the
commissioner of the bureau of senior services only in accordance
with the provisions of this article.
§16-38-4. Grants and distributions.
(a) The commissioner may make grants from the assistance fund
for the benefit of informal caregivers who have made application
through an Alzheimer's association, as more fully set forth in
section three of this article. Grants and distributions from the
assistance fund shall be contingent upon the availability of funds
in the account.
(b) The commissioner may coordinate grants under this section
with the availability of grants from other sources. The
commissioner may also accept or seek grants from other sources to
enhance amounts contributed or appropriated to the Alzheimer's
caregiver assistance program.
(c) The commissioner shall distribute written information
regarding the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program and the
availability of grants for respite services to county commissions,
senior centers, libraries, information and referral centers and
other agencies that provide services to older West Virginians and
their families. All costs associated with the printing and distribution of such information shall be paid from funds
appropriated therefor in the budget of the bureau of senior
services.
§16-38-5. Rules; report to the Legislature.
(a) The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the receipt and
distribution of funding for the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance
program, qualifications for receipt of grants through the program,
the administration and promotion of the program and other
provisions as may be required by this article.
(b) The commissioner shall submit a report to the Legislature
on or before the second Wednesday of January, two thousand two, and
the second Wednesday of each year thereafter, that reflects the
amount of money that has been provided through the check-off
program, the amount of funds received from other sources, the
amount of any grants and distributions, the costs incurred for
printing and distribution of information about the program, costs
of administration and the efficacy of the assistance program.
§16-38-6. Effective date.
This article shall apply to all personal income tax returns
required to be filed on and after the first day of July, two
thousand one.