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Engrossed Version Senate Bill 219 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted


ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 219

(By Senators Boley, Prezioso, Tomblin, Mr. President, Deem, Anderson, Facemyer, Caldwell, Minear, Unger, Sprouse, Burnette, Plymale, Hunter, McKenzie, Ross, Sharpe, Minard, Kessler, Edgell, Bailey, Snyder, Jackson, Wooton, Fanning, Mitchell, Love, Rowe, Redd and Helmick)

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[Originating in the Committee on Health and Human Resources; reported March 7, 2001.]

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A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article thirty-eight, relating to creating an Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program to provide respite services for informal caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia; authorizing the development of a check-off program on individual income tax returns to fund the assistance program; requiring the commissioner of the bureau of senior services to administer and promote the assistance program; defining terms; setting criteria for eligibility; restricting grants to the availability of funds; requiring reports to the Legislature; authorizing the commissioner to propose rules implementing the program; and establishing effective date.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article thirty-eight, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 38. ALZHEIMER'S CAREGIVER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
§16-38-1. Legislative intent.
By enacting this statute, the Legislature intends to create an Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program and to provide for a funding mechanism
to help provide respite services for informal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Funding for this program shall be derived from a voluntary check-off and contribution designation on state personal income tax return forms so that a portion or all of any refund due a taxpayer, or any contribution a taxpayer may wish to submit in addition to tax owed, may be transferred to the special fund created in this article, along with any other contributions, grants, appropriations, revenues or moneys obtained for the program.
§16-38-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article:
(a) "Alzheimer's association" means any national, state or local association that assists or supports persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease, their families or caregivers and has been certified as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, as amended.
(b) "Alzheimer's disease" means a diagnosis of presenile dementia or senile dementia-Alzheimer type (SDAT), characterized by confusion, memory failure, disorientation, restlessness, agnosia, speech disturbances, inability to carry out purposeful movements and hallucinosis.
(c) "Assistance fund" means the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance fund within the state treasury as created and designated in this article.
(d) "Assistance program" means the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program created in this article.
(e) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the bureau of senior services.
(f) "Informal caregiver" means any spouse, adult child, relative or friend who provides unpaid assistance to a person living in his or her own home or the home of another who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, as that term is defined in this section.
(g) "Respite care" means temporary, substitute support or living arrangements to provide a brief period of relief or rest for caregivers, including in-home care provided by appropriately trained individuals, adult day care or institutional care limited to an overnight stay on an intermittent, occasional or emergency basis.
§16-38-3. Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program

; eligibility for grants; funding.

(a) There is hereby established within the bureau of senior services the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program. The program shall provide respite services for informal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease, within funds available therefor, through grants from the assistance fund or other sources. Grants from the assistance program shall be provided upon submission of documentation satisfactory to the commissioner that the caregiver provides informal care for a person residing in this state who has been diagnosed by a physician as having Alzheimer's disease and whose caregiver is in need of respite services.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section fourteen-a, article ten, chapter eleven of this code, the secretary of tax and revenue shall design West Virginia personal income tax forms so that each taxpayer may designate a portion or all of any tax refund due him or her, or an amount submitted in addition to tax owed, to the
Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program. The contribution shall be in any whole dollar amount and may not reduce the amount of state tax owed. The tax return shall include a separate line on which the taxpayer may designate the amount of the contribution.
(c) The Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program shall be funded from contributions received through the voluntary check-off program and any other contributions, revenues, grants or appropriations obtained or designated for the program.
(d) There is hereby established within the state treasury a special account to be known as the "Alzheimer's Caregiver Assistance Fund". All moneys collected pursuant to this article and any other contributions, grants, funds, appropriations or other revenue collected for the assistance program shall be deposited in this account. Distributions from this account may be made by the commissioner of the bureau of senior services only in accordance with the provisions of this article.
§16-38-4. Grants and distributions.
(a) The commissioner may make grants from the assistance fund for the benefit of informal caregivers who have made application through an Alzheimer's association, as more fully set forth in section three of this article. Grants and distributions from the assistance fund shall be contingent upon the availability of funds in the account.
(b) The commissioner may coordinate grants under this section with the availability of grants from other sources. The commissioner may also accept or seek grants from other sources to enhance amounts contributed or appropriated to the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program.
(c) The commissioner shall distribute written information regarding the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program and the availability of grants for respite services to county commissions, senior centers, libraries, information and referral centers and other agencies that provide services to older West Virginians and their families. All costs associated with the printing and distribution of such information shall be paid from funds appropriated therefor in the budget of the bureau of senior services.
§16-38-5. Rules; report to the Legislature.
(a) The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the receipt and distribution of funding for the Alzheimer's caregiver assistance program, qualifications for receipt of grants through the program, the administration and promotion of the program and other provisions as may be required by this article.
(b) The commissioner shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before the second Wednesday of January, two thousand two, and the second Wednesday of each year thereafter, that reflects the amount of money that has been provided through the check-off program, the amount of funds received from other sources, the amount of any grants and distributions, the costs incurred for printing and distribution of information about the program, costs of administration and the efficacy of the assistance program.
§16-38-6. Effective date.
This article shall apply to all personal income tax returns required to be filed on and after the first day of July, two thousand one.


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