Senate Bill No. 301–Senator Townsend

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to mental health; creating the Nevada Mental Health Plan Implementation Commission to develop an action plan for implementing the recommendations of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in this state; 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. 1.  The Nevada Mental Health Plan

Implementation Commission is hereby created.

    2.  The Commission consists of:

    (a) Three members of the Senate who are appointed by the

Majority Leader of the Senate;

    (b) Three members of the Assembly who are appointed by the

Speaker of the Assembly;

    (c) The Administrator of the Division of Mental Health and

Developmental Services of the Department of Human Resources, or

his designee;

    (d) The Chief of the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse within

the Health Division of the Department of Human Resources, or his

designee;

    (e) The Administrator of the Division of Health Care Financing

and Policy of the Department of Human Resources, or his designee;

and

    (f) The Administrator of the Division of Child and Family

Services of the Department of Human Resources, or his designee.

    3.  At its first meeting, the members of the Commission shall

elect a chair from among its members.

    Sec. 2.  1.  The members of the Nevada Mental Health Plan

Implementation Commission serve on the Commission for 6 months

beginning on the day the President’s New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health Report is made public.

    2.  A vacancy occurring in the membership of the Commission

must be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

    3.  The Commission shall meet at the times and places specified

by a call of the Chair of the Commission.

    4.  A majority of the members of the Commission constitutes a

quorum for the transaction of business, and a majority of a quorum

present at any meeting is sufficient for any official action taken by

the Commission.

    Sec. 3.  1.  Except during a regular or special session of the

Legislature, for each day or portion of a day during which a member

of the Commission who is a Legislator attends a meeting of the

Commission or is otherwise engaged in the work of the

Commission, he is entitled to receive the:

    (a) Compensation provided for a majority of the members of the

Legislature during the first 60 days of the preceding session;

    (b) Per diem allowance provided for state officers and

employees generally; and

    (c) Travel expenses provided pursuant to NRS 218.2207.

The compensation, per diem allowances and travel expenses of the

legislative members of the Commission must be paid from the

Legislative Fund.

    2.  Members of the Nevada Mental Health Plan Implementation

Commission who are not Legislators serve without compensation,

except that a member of the Commission is entitled, while engaged

in the business of the Commission, to receive the per diem

allowance and travel expenses provided for state officers and

employees generally.

    3.  Each member of the Commission who is an officer or

employee of the State of Nevada or a local government must be

relieved from his duties without loss of his regular compensation so

that he may prepare for and attend meetings of the Commission and

perform any work necessary to carry out the duties of the

Commission in the most timely manner practicable. A state agency

or local governmental entity shall not require an officer or employee

who is a member of the Commission to make up the time that he is

absent from work to carry out his duties as a member of the

Commission or to use annual vacation or compensatory time for the

absence.

    Sec. 4.  1.  The Nevada Mental Health Plan Implementation

Commission shall:

    (a) Determine how Nevada will implement the

recommendations of the President’s New Freedom Commission on

Mental Health to enable adults with serious mental illnesses and

children with serious emotional disturbances to live, work, learn and

participate fully in their communities; and

    (b) Develop an action plan for implementing the

recommendations in this state.

    2.  The Commission shall submit a report setting forth the

action plan developed pursuant to this section to the Interim Finance

Committee, the Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Issues of the

Legislative Committee on Health Care and the Governor on or

before January 1, 2005.

    Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003, and expires

by limitation on January 1, 2005.

 

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