As Amended
SEC. 41-105-1. Healthcare Coordinating Council established; appointment and terms of members; election of officers; adoption of bylaws and rules; formation of committees; meetings; staffing and administration; compensation.
(1) There is created the Healthcare Coordinating Council, which will be responsible for making recommendations to the Legislature regarding the establishment of a long-range, comprehensive preventive health care plan.
(2) The council will consist of fifteen (15) members to be appointed as follows:
(a) Two (2) members of the Mississippi House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve four-year terms;
(b) Two (2) members of the Mississippi Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve four-year terms;
(c) One (1) representative of an appropriate state agency appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a six-year term;
(d) One (1) representative of an appropriate state agency appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a two-year term;
(e) Two (2) members from appropriate state agencies appointed by the Governor to serve four-year terms;
(f) One (1) health advocate appointed by the Governor to serve a two-year term;
(g) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a four-year term;
(h) One (1) health advocate appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a six-year term;
(i) One (1) health care provider appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a two-year term;
(j) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a four-year term;
(k) One (1) health care provider appointed by the Governor to serve a six-year term; and
(l) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term.
(3) The appointing officers shall give due regard to gender, race and geographic distribution in making their appointments to the council.
(4) At its first meeting, the council shall elect a chairman and other necessary officers from among its membership. The chairman and other officers shall be elected annually by the council. The council shall adopt bylaws and rules for its efficient operation. The council may establish committees that will be responsible for conducting specific council programs or activities.
(5) The council shall meet and conduct business at least quarterly. All meetings of the council and any committees of the council will be open to the public, with opportunities for public comment provided on a regular basis. Notice of all meetings shall be given as provided in the Open Meetings Act (Section 25-41-1 et seq.) and appropriate notice also shall be given to all persons so requesting of the date, time and place of each meeting. Eight (8) members of the council will constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(6) The council is assigned jointly to the Mississippi Forum on Children and Families, the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program and the Children's Defense Fund Black Community Crusade for Children for administrative purposes only. Those three (3) organizations shall designate staff to assist the council.
(7) Members of the council who are not legislators, state officials or state employees may be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties by the three (3) administering organizations designated in subsection (6) of this section, if funds are available to the organizations for that purpose. Legislative members of the council will be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same manner as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. However, legislative members will not be paid per diem or expenses for attending meetings of the council while the Legislature is in session. No council member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless previously authorized by vote, at a meeting of the council, which action must be recorded in the official minutes of the meeting.
SOURCES: Laws, 2002, ch. 469, § 1, HB 891, eff from and after passage (approved Mar. 25, 2002).