Bill Text: MS SB2462 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi Senate Bill 2462 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program; establish in the State Department of Health.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)

Status: (Failed) 2014-02-04 - Died In Committee [SB2462 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2014-SB2462-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2014 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Welfare; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Gandy, Wilemon, Moran, Hudson, Massey, Montgomery, Parker

Senate Bill 2462

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A WEST NILE VIRUS MOSQUITO MANAGEMENT GRANT PROGRAM IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ASSIST MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES IN PROVIDING MATCHING FUNDS FOR PESTICIDE AND LARVICIDE SPRAY PROGRAMS, THE ELIMINATION OF BREEDING SITES ON PUBLIC LAND, AND PUBLIC AWARENESS EFFORTS; TO CREATE THE WEST NILE VIRUS MOSQUITO MANAGEMENT GRANT FUND TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO AMEND SECTIONS 41-27-5, 41-27-13 AND 41-27-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) There is hereby established the Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program in the State Department of Health to provide funding, pursuant to specific appropriation by the Legislature therefor, to assist municipalities, counties and local mosquito control commissions in providing matching funds (a) for local pesticide spray programs targeting adult mosquitoes with the West Nile virus, (b) to provide products to eliminate breeding sites using larvicides to kill mosquito larvae, (c) to clear standing water from public land that could serve as a potential breeding habitat, and (d) to communicate mosquito prevention methods and community-wide efforts to increase the awareness of prevention methods for mosquito-borne illnesses, particularly for the elderly, and to reduce breeding sources. The Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program shall provide a state contribution over the one-year grant period, to be matched from local funds on a 50/50 matching basis. In order to qualify for matching funds, the municipality, county or local mosquito control commission shall provide its mosquito management strategy to the State Department of Health which emphasizes education, prevention through larval control, and monitoring for both mosquito-borne illnesses and pesticide-related illnesses.

(2) There is hereby created in the State Treasury the West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Fund to be utilized by the State Department of Health for providing mosquito abatement grants to local communities as provided in this section. The total amount available for expenditure by the State Department of Health in any one (1) year shall not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) subject to the availability of funds appropriated by the Legislature. Any unexpended funds in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be available for expenditure in the next fiscal year.

(3) The State Department of Health shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing procedures for the application, expenditure requirements and the administration of the Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program established in this section, and shall make a report on the implementation of the grant program with any recommendations to the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature.

SECTION 2. Section 41-27-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-27-5. (1) The State Board of Health, or its representative, shall, upon request of a county mosquito control commission, furnish the said commission with such surveys, maps, information, and advice as may be available for the prosecution of the work, or, as in its opinion, will be of advantage in connection therewith. The expenses of surveys shall be paid, in whole or in part, by the said commission.

(2) The State Department of Health shall, upon the request of a county mosquito control commission, municipality or county, provide funding for West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Programs pursuant to the requirements of the Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program established in Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 3. Section 41-27-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-27-13. The county board of supervisors of each county, or other body having control of the finances thereof, may include the amount of money, approved by the County Mosquito Control Commission and the State Health Officer, annually in the general fund levy. The county board of supervisors of each county or the local municipal governing authority may include the amount of matching funds required to participate in the Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program according to the requirements of Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 4. Section 41-27-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-27-29. Each county mosquito control commission and the joint mosquito control commission shall be subject to and perform the following:

(a) Upon receipt of the county warrant from each of the cooperating counties, the president and secretary of the joint commission shall cause said warrant to be deposited into the credit of an appropriate fund to be established by said joint commission in a bank which shall be one (1) of the banks then or theretofore designated as a county depository by the board of supervisors of the county in which such bank is located and be disbursed by check or pay warrant over the signatures of the president and secretary for such purposes and only for such purposes as have been approved and allowed as provided in Section 41-27-25. The president and secretary of the joint commission shall be liable on their official bonds for the disbursement of funds as herein provided.

(b) All purchases and expenditures shall be made in accordance with the laws applicable to county purchases and expenditures.

(c) The president and secretary issuing checks or pay warrants shall withhold from wages and salaries paid to each employee each month the required federal income tax, social security tax, and state retirement contribution in accordance with the requirements of the county in which the respective employees reside.

(d) At the end of each month the commission making disbursements shall report and remit the respective amounts so withheld to the chancery clerk of the county in which each employee resides, for incorporation by said clerk in the reports required to be made by said clerk, as county auditor for said county. Said report shall be made in such form as required by the chancery clerk in each county.

(e) The books and all records of each county commission and the joint commission shall be made available and subject to such audits as the respective county auditors of the cooperating counties and the State Auditor may deem proper and necessary.

(f) Any municipality, county or county commission participating in the Mississippi West Nile Virus Mosquito Management Grant Program established in Section 1 of this act shall be subject to the provisions and requirements of said section.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.