Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2283 would require the Attorney General to appoint an Assistant Attorney General to act as the attorney for the Board of Adult Care Home Administrators. The Board of Adult Care Home Administrators is a part of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The bill would also require the Office of the Attorney General to act as the enforcement agency for the Board, which would remove that authority and responsibility from KDHE. KDHE remains the administrative agency for the Board. As amended by the House Committee on Appropriations, the bill would also require the Governor to appoint the members of the seven-member board, shifting that responsibility from the Secretary of Health and Environment. This provision would apply only to members appointed subsequent to the effective date of the bill. As amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole, the bill would deposit 80 percent of all fees, charges, or penalties collected from adult care home directors in the Adult Care Home Administrators Fee Fund. The remaining 20 percent would be deposited in the State General Fund.

Background

The Department of Health and Environment presented testimony that some members of the Board are unhappy with the current organizational structure. The fiscal note provided by the Division of the Budget indicates that the Attorney General's office would not require additional funding if this bill were to pass if the interpretation of the bill is to have the Attorney General prosecute administrative hearings before the Board of Adult Care Home Administrators and/or to provide an attorney for the Board. However, if the bill were interpreted to require investigation by the Attorney General and for the Attorney General to bear the cost of hearings, there would be a fiscal effect of approximately $30,000 additional State General Fund dollars needed per year. KDHE is in support of the bill assuming the former interpretation.

The Senate Committee of the Whole's amendment would shift approximately $43,000 from the State General Fund to the new fee fund in FY 2002.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi