Bill Text: CT HB05435 | 2015 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Commission On Health Equity.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-30 - Senate Calendar Number 607 [HB05435 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2015-HB05435-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2015 |
*_____HB05435INS___031915____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING THE COMMISSION ON HEALTH EQUITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 38a-1051 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) Whereas the General Assembly finds that: (1) Equal enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is a human right and a priority of the state, (2) research and experience demonstrate that inhabitants of the state experience barriers to the equal enjoyment of good health based on race, ethnicity, gender, national origin and linguistic ability, and (3) addressing such barriers, and others that may arise in the future, requires: The collection, analysis and reporting of information, the identification of causes, and the development and implementation of policy solutions that address health disparities while improving the health of the public as a whole therefore, there is established a Commission on Health Equity with the mission of eliminating disparities in health status based on race, ethnicity, gender and linguistic ability, and improving the quality of health for all of the state's residents. Such commission shall consist of the following commissioners, or their designees, and [public] members: (A) The Commissioners of Public Health, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Developmental Services, Social Services, Correction, Children and Families, and Education; (B) the dean of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or his or her designee; (C) the director of The University of Connecticut Health Center and Center for Public Health and Health Policy, or their designees; (D) the dean of the Yale University Medical School, or his or her designee; (E) the dean of [Public Health and the School of Epidemiology at Yale University] the Yale School of Public Health, or his or her designee; (F) one member appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who shall be a member of an affiliate of the National Urban League; (G) one member appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; (H) one member appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a member of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the General Assembly; (I) one member appointed by the majority leader of the Senate with the advice of the Native American Heritage Advisory Council or the chairperson of the Indian Affairs Council, who shall be a representative of the Native American community; (J) one member appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be a representative of an advocacy group for Hispanics; (K) one member appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a representative of the state-wide Multicultural Health Network; (L) the chairperson of the African-American Affairs Commission, or his or her designee; (M) the chairperson of the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, or his or her designee; (N) the chairperson of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, or his or her designee; (O) the chairperson of the Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, or his or her designee; (P) the director of the Hispanic Health Council, or his or her designee; (Q) [the chairperson of the Office of] the Healthcare Advocate, or his or her designee; and (R) eight members of the public, representing communities facing disparities in health status based on race, ethnicity, gender and linguistic ability, who shall be appointed as follows: Two by the president pro tempore of the Senate, two by the speaker of the House of Representatives, two by the minority leader of the Senate, and two by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. Vacancies on the council shall be filled by the appointing authority.
(b) The commission shall elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson from among its members. Any member absent from either: (1) Three consecutive meetings of the commission, or (2) fifty per cent of such meetings during any calendar year, shall be deemed to have resigned from the commission.
(c) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but within available appropriations, and shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.
(d) The commission shall meet as often as necessary as determined by the chairperson or a majority of the commission, but not less than at least once per calendar quarter.
(e) The commission shall: (1) Review and comment on any proposed state legislation and regulations that would affect the health of populations in the state experiencing racial, ethnic, cultural or linguistic disparities in health status, (2) review and comment on the Department of Public Health's health disparities performance measures, (3) advise and provide information to the Governor and the General Assembly on the state's policies concerning the health of populations in the state experiencing racial, ethnic, cultural or linguistic disparities in health status, (4) work as a liaison between populations experiencing racial, ethnic, cultural or linguistic disparities in health status and state agencies in order to eliminate such health disparities, (5) evaluate policies, procedures, activities and resource allocations to eliminate health status disparities among racial, ethnic and linguistic populations in the state and have the authority to convene the directors and commissioners of all state agencies whose purview is relevant to the elimination of health disparities, including but not limited to, the Departments of Public Health, Social Services, Children and Families, Developmental Services, Education, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Labor, Transportation, and the Housing Finance Authority for the purpose of advising on and directing the implementation of policies, procedures, activities and resource allocations to eliminate health status disparities among racial, ethnic and linguistic populations in the state, (6) prepare and submit to the Governor and General Assembly an annual report, in accordance with section 11-4a, that provides both a retrospective and prospective view of health disparities and the state's efforts to ameliorate identifiable disparities among populations of the state experiencing racial, ethnic, cultural or linguistic disparities in health status, (7) explore other successful programs in other sectors and states, and pilot and provide grants for new creative programs that may diminish or contribute to the elimination of health disparities in the state and culturally appropriate health education demonstration projects, for which the commission may apply for, accept and expand public and private funding, (8) have the authority to collect and analyze government and other data regarding the health status of state inhabitants based on race, ethnicity, gender, national origin and linguistic ability, including access, services and outcomes in private and public health care institutions within the state, including, but not limited to, the data collected by the Connecticut Health Information Network, (9) have the authority to draft and recommend proposed legislation, regulations and other policies designed to address disparities in health status, [and] (10) have the authority to conduct hearings and interviews, and receive testimony, regarding matters pertinent to its mission, and (11) establish requirements for and duties of and policies and procedures for the removal of, an executive director appointed pursuant to subsection (g) of this section.
(f) The commission may use such funds as may be available from federal, state or other sources, and may enter into contracts to carry out the provisions of this section.
(g) The commission may, within available appropriations, (1) appoint an executive director, who shall be in the unclassified service, and (2) subject to the provisions of chapter 67, employ any additional necessary staff.
(h) The commission shall be within the [Office of the Healthcare Advocate] Insurance Department for administrative purposes only.
(i) The commission shall report to the Governor and the General Assembly on its findings not later than June 1, 2010.
(j) The commission shall make a determination as to whether the duties of the commission are duplicated by any other state agency, office, bureau or commission and shall include information concerning any such duplication or performance of similar duties by any other state agency, office, bureau or commission in the report described in subsection (i) of this section.
Sec. 2. Section 5-198 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
The offices and positions filled by the following-described incumbents shall be exempt from the classified service:
(1) All officers and employees of the Judicial Department;
(2) All officers and employees of the Legislative Department;
(3) All officers elected by popular vote;
(4) All agency heads, members of boards and commissions and other officers appointed by the Governor;
(5) All persons designated by name in any special act to hold any state office;
(6) All officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted men in the military or naval service of the state and under military or naval discipline and control;
(7) (A) All correctional wardens, as provided in section 18-82, and (B) all superintendents of state institutions, the State Librarian, the president of The University of Connecticut and any other commissioner or administrative head of a state department or institution who is appointed by a board or commission responsible by statute for the administration of such department or institution;
(8) The State Historian appointed by the State Library Board;
(9) Deputies to the administrative head of each department or institution designated by statute to act for and perform all of the duties of such administrative head during such administrative head's absence or incapacity;
(10) Executive assistants to each state elective officer and each department head, as defined in section 4-5, provided (A) each position of executive assistant shall have been created in accordance with section 5-214, and (B) in no event shall the Commissioner of Administrative Services or the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management approve more than four executive assistants for a department head;
(11) One personal secretary to the administrative head and to each undersecretary or deputy to such head of each department or institution;
(12) All members of the professional and technical staffs of the constituent units of the state system of higher education, as defined in section 10a-1, of all other state institutions of learning, of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, and of the agricultural experiment station at New Haven, professional and managerial employees of the Department of Education and teachers certified by the State Board of Education and employed in teaching positions at state institutions;
(13) Physicians, dentists, student nurses in institutions and other professional specialists who are employed on a part-time basis;
(14) Persons employed to make or conduct a special inquiry, investigation, examination or installation;
(15) Students in educational institutions who are employed on a part-time basis;
(16) Forest fire wardens provided for by section 23-36;
(17) Patients or inmates of state institutions who receive compensation for services rendered therein;
(18) Employees of the Governor including employees working at the executive office, official executive residence at 990 Prospect Avenue, Hartford and the Washington D.C. office;
(19) Persons filling positions expressly exempted by statute from the classified service;
(20) Librarians employed by the State Board of Education or any constituent unit of the state system of higher education;
(21) All officers and employees of the Division of Criminal Justice;
(22) Professional employees in the education professions bargaining unit of the Department of Rehabilitation Services;
(23) Lieutenant colonels in the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection;
(24) The Deputy State Fire Marshal within the Department of Administrative Services;
(25) The chief administrative officer of the Workers' Compensation Commission;
(26) Employees in the education professions bargaining unit;
(27) Disability policy specialists employed by the Council on Developmental Disabilities; [and]
(28) The director for digital media and motion picture activities in the Department of Economic and Community Development; and
(29) The executive director of the Commission on Health Equity appointed pursuant to section 38a-1051, as amended by this act.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2015 |
38a-1051 |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2015 |
5-198 |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Sec. 1. (a)(3)(Q), "[the chairperson of] the Office of the Healthcare Advocate," was changed to "[the chairperson of the Office of] the Healthcare Advocate," for accuracy.
INS |
Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO |