Bill Text: NC H997 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Funds to Prevent Infant Mortality
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-21 - Ref To Com On Appropriations [H997 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-H997-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 1
HOUSE BILL 997*
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Short Title: Funds to Prevent Infant Mortality. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representative Earle (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, see Bill Information on the NCGA Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Appropriations. |
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May 21, 2012
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO PREVENT INFANT MORTALITY IN NORTH CAROLINA.
Whereas, the 2009 infant mortality rate in North Carolina was 7.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births; and
Whereas, there has been a 35% decline in this rate in the past two decades, yet North Carolina still ranks 44th among the states; and
Whereas, much of the decline in the infant mortality rate can be attributed to an array of services that were either eliminated or reduced in the 2009‑2010 budget; and
Whereas, the NC Child Fatality Task Force recommends that no further reductions be made to the critical services aimed at preventing infant mortality; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Services, the sum of eight hundred seventy thousand dollars ($870,000) for the 2011‑2013 biennium to be allocated as follows:
(1) $350,000 for the March of Dimes to continue to provide outreach, educational materials, and vitamins through the NC Folic Acid Campaign to reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects.
(2) $325,000 for the East Carolina School of Medicine to continue to operate a high‑risk maternity clinic to improve the birth outcomes of women in the 29 eastern counties.
(3) $150,000 for the Healthy Start Foundation to continue to provide education and public awareness through the Safe Sleep Campaign to reduce the occurrence of SIDS and sleep‑related suffocations.
(4) $45,000 to the University of North Carolina School of Medicine to continue to provide education and progesterone to reduce preterm births among low‑income non‑Medicaid women who have already experienced at least one preterm birth.
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2011.
