Senate Bill No. 137–Committee on Legislative
Affairs and Operations

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to persons with disabilities; establishing a Legislative Committee on Persons With Disabilities; prescribing the powers and duties of the Committee; requiring the Department of Human Resources to submit certain reports to the Committee; providing for the prospective expiration of the Committee; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. Chapter 218 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this

act.

    Sec. 2. As used in sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act,

“Committee” means the Legislative Committee on Persons With

Disabilities.

    Sec. 3.  1.  There is hereby established a Legislative

Committee on Persons With Disabilities consisting of three

members of the Senate and three members of the Assembly,

appointed by the Legislative Commission. The members must be

appointed with appropriate regard for their experience with and

knowledge of matters relating to persons with disabilities.

    2.  The members of the Committee shall select a Chairman

and a Vice Chairman from among their members. The Chairman

must be elected from one house of the Legislature and the Vice

Chairman from the other house. After the initial selection of a

Chairman and a Vice Chairman, each of those officers holds

office for a term of 2 years commencing on July 1 of each

odd-numbered year. If a vacancy occurs in the chairmanship or

vice chairmanship, the members of the Committee shall select a

replacement for the remainder of the unexpired term.

    3.  Any member of the Committee who is not a candidate for

reelection or who is defeated for reelection continues to serve until

the next session of the Legislature convenes.

    4.  Vacancies on the Committee must be filled in the same

manner as original appointments.

    Sec. 4.  1.  The members of the Committee shall meet

throughout each year at the times and places specified by a call of

the Chairman or a majority of the Committee.

    2.  The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau or his

designee shall act as the nonvoting recording Secretary.

    3.  The Committee shall prescribe regulations for its own

management and government.

    4.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, four

members of the Committee constitute a quorum, and a quorum

may exercise all the powers conferred on the Committee.

    5.  Any recommended legislation proposed by the Committee

must be approved by a majority of the members of the Senate and

by a majority of the members of the Assembly appointed to the

Committee.

    6.  Except during a regular or special session of the

Legislature, the members of the Committee are entitled to receive

the compensation provided for a majority of the members of the

Legislature during the first 60 days of the preceding regular

session, the per diem allowance provided for state officers and

employees generally and the travel expenses provided pursuant to

NRS 218.2207 for each day or portion of a day of attendance at a

meeting of the Committee and while engaged in the business of

the Committee. The salaries and expenses paid pursuant to this

subsection and the expenses of the Committee must be paid from

the Legislative Fund.

    Sec. 5.  The Committee may:

    1.  Study and comment on issues related to persons with

disabilities in this state, including, without limitation:

    (a) Programs for the provision of services to persons with

disabilities in this state;

    (b) Methods to enhance such programs and to ensure that

persons with disabilities are receiving services in the most

appropriate setting;

    (c) Federal and state laws concerning persons with disabilities;

    (d) The availability of useful information and data as needed

for the State of Nevada to effectively make decisions, plan budgets

and monitor costs and outcomes of services provided to persons

with disabilities;

    (e) Methods to increase the availability of such information

and data;

    (f) Compliance with federal requirements which affect persons

with disabilities; and

    (g) Any other matters that, in the determination of the

Committee, affect persons with disabilities.

    2.  Conduct investigations and hold hearings in connection

with its powers pursuant to this section.

    3.  Direct the Legislative Counsel Bureau to assist in the study

of issues related to persons with disabilities in this state.

    4.  Recommend to the Legislature, as a result of its study, any

appropriate legislation.

    Sec. 6. 1.  In conducting the investigations and hearings of

the Committee:

    (a) The Secretary of the Committee or, in his absence, any

member of the Committee may administer oaths.

    (b) The Secretary or Chairman of the Committee may cause

the deposition of witnesses, residing either within or outside of the

State, to be taken in the manner prescribed by rule of court for

taking depositions in civil actions in the district courts.

    (c) The Chairman of the Committee may issue subpoenas to

compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books

and papers.

    2.  If any witness refuses to attend or testify or produce any

books and papers as required by the subpoena, the Chairman of

the Committee may report to the district court by petition, setting

forth that:

    (a) Due notice has been given of the time and place of

attendance of the witness or the production of the books and

papers;

    (b) The witness has been subpoenaed by the Committee

pursuant to this section; and

    (c) The witness has failed or refused to attend or produce the

books and papers required by the subpoena before the Committee

which is named in the subpoena, or has refused to answer

questions propounded to him,

and asking for an order of the court compelling the witness to

attend and testify or produce the books and papers before the

Committee.

    3.  Upon such a petition, the court shall enter an order

directing the witness to appear before the court at a time and place

to be fixed by the court in its order, the time to be not more than

10 days after the date of the order, and to show cause why he has

not attended or testified or produced the books or papers before

the Committee. A certified copy of the order must be served upon

the witness.

    4.  If it appears to the court that the subpoena was regularly

issued by the Committee, the court shall enter an order that the

witness appear before the Committee at the time and place fixed in

the order and testify or produce the required books or papers.

Failure to obey the order constitutes contempt of court.

    Sec. 7.  Each witness who appears before the Committee by

its order, except a state officer or employee, is entitled to receive

for his attendance the fees and mileage provided for witnesses in

civil cases in the courts of record of this state. The fees and

mileage must be audited and paid upon the presentation of proper

claims sworn to by the witness and approved by the Secretary and

Chairman of the Committee.

    Sec. 7.5.  1.  There is hereby established an advisory

committee to the Committee consisting of:

    (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction;

    (b) The Administrator of the Aging Services Division of the

Department of Human Resources;

    (c) The Chief of the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation of

the Rehabilitation Division of the Department of Employment,

Training and Rehabilitation;

    (d) The Chief of the Bureau of Services to the Blind and

Visually Impaired of the Rehabilitation Division of the

Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation; and

    (e) Any persons appointed by the Chairman of the Committee

pursuant to subsection 2.

    2.  The Chairman of the Committee shall appoint

representatives from local advocacy and provider groups to serve

on the advisory committee, as the Chairman deems necessary.

    3.  Each member of the advisory committee described in

paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection 1 may designate a

representative to serve in his place on the advisory committee or to

replace him at a meeting of the Committee or the advisory

committee.

    4.  Each member of the advisory committee who is not an

officer or employee of the State serves without compensation and

is not entitled to receive a per diem allowance or travel expenses.

    5.  Each member of the advisory committee who is an officer

or employee of the State must be relieved from his duties without

loss of his regular compensation so that he may attend meetings of

the Committee or the advisory committee and is entitled to receive

the per diem allowance and travel expenses provided for state

officers and employees generally, which must be paid by the state

agency that employs him.

    Sec. 8. On or before July 1 of each even-numbered year or

October 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Department of Human

Resources shall submit a report to the Committee. The report must

include, without limitation, information relating to:

    1.  The expansion of the program established pursuant to

NRS 422.2715;

    2.  The progress made by the Department toward the goal of

equitably providing, by January 1, 2008, comprehensive health

care coverage to each person with a disability who by virtue of

becoming employed has established an income that is above the

federally designated level signifying poverty and who is unable to

obtain the health insurance coverage he needs from a source other

than a program of public assistance; and

    3.  The impact of assessments made of persons with

disabilities pursuant to the comprehensive long-term Strategic

Plan for Persons with Disabilities prepared by the Task Force on

Disability to determine if they are living in an unnecessarily

restrictive residential environment, including, without limitation,

any savings in costs that resulted from those assessments.

    Sec. 9.  1.  The Department of Human Resources shall

examine the feasibility of amending the State Plan for Medicaid to

authorize money to be paid as Medicaid benefits to cover the costs

of community-based services for a person if:

    (a) The person is assessed and determined to be living in an

unnecessarily restrictive residential environment;

    (b) The person relocates from a facility for skilled nursing or a

facility for intermediate care to a community-based setting; and

    (c) Money paid as Medicaid benefits was used to cover the costs

of the care of that person while the person resided in the facility for

skilled nursing or the facility for intermediate care.

    2.  On or before July 1, 2004, the Department shall submit to

the Legislative Committee on Persons With Disabilities a report

relating to the results of the examination conducted pursuant to

subsection 1.

    3.  As used in this section:

    (a) “Facility for intermediate care” has the meaning ascribed to

it in NRS 449.0038.

    (b) “Facility for skilled nursing” has the meaning ascribed to it

in NRS 449.0039.

    Sec. 10.  1.  The Legislative Committee on Persons With

Disabilities shall conduct a study for the purpose of establishing an

Interagency Transition Plan concerning the transition from school to

work for pupils with disabilities and to study ways to more fully

implement the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C.

§§ 12101 et seq., in Nevada and to study the facilitation of the use

of service animals in this state.

    2.  The study must, without limitation:

    (a) Include a review of programs available for pupils with

disabilities in the secondary school environment, including a review

of the outcomes for such pupils after exiting school, as a means of

determining costs and potential savings for such programs;

    (b) Identify gaps in services that may exist for pupils with

disabilities who are transitioning out of school into the workforce

and develop strategies for narrowing these gaps, including

postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated

employment, continuing and adult education, adult services,

independent living and community participation; and

    (c) Determine ways of better implementing the provisions of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400

et seq., and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§

12101 et seq., for the benefit of the residents of the State of Nevada,

including appropriate access for persons with disabilities and

facilitating the use of service animals.

    3. The Legislative Committee on Persons With Disabilities

shall establish an Interagency Transition Plan for the purpose of

facilitating the transition from school to work for pupils with

disabilities.

    4.  The Legislative Committee on Persons With Disabilities

shall submit a copy of the Interagency Transition Plan established

pursuant to subsection 3 and a report of the results of the study

conducted pursuant to subsection 1 and any recommendations for

legislation to the 73rd Session of the Nevada Legislature.

    Sec. 11.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003, and

expires by limitation on June 30, 2007.

 

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