Lifesaver program.

WORKING DRAFT
2014
STATE OF
WYOMING
14LSO-0231

HOUSE BILL
NO.

HB0167

Lifesaver program
.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Esquibel, K. and Senator(s) Johnson

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
public health; creating
a
lifesaver program
; specifying program components; authorizing rulemaking;
authorizing grants as specified; providing appropriations
and a continuous appropriation
;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S.
9
‑
2
‑
1
28

is
created to
read
:

9
‑
2
‑
128.

Lifesaver programs;
process for grants
;
administration
;

account established;
rules; grant criteria
.

(a)

The department of health shall administer a
lifesaver program
to provide grants to counties for
search and rescue designed to quickly find a
person suffering from
D
own
s
yndrome, brain injuries,
a
utism, Alzheimer's or other dementia related disorders who wanders and becomes lost and missing.
The program shall operate on a county basis, under which participants
wear transmitter
s

to allo
w

the county sheriff's departments to electronically locate participant
s
if necessary
.

(b
)

The department shall establish by rule and regulation an application procedure and calendar for grants under
this
section and adopt other rules as necessary to implement this section.

(
c
)

Grant applications shall include, but not be limited to:

(
i
)

A
n estimate of the number of people who might qualify for assistance in the county;

(ii)

A
n estimate of the startup cost; and

(iii
)

A
statement of the number of personnel available for tracking lost persons.

(d)

The department shall provide grants, subject to the following:

(
i
)

Grants to any one (1) county shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) of state funds in any calendar year;

(ii)

The director shall prioritize the grant awards in accordance with the respective needs of each county for tracking services and the availability of local funding sources, as documented in the applications submitted.

(
e
)

A grant recipient under this section shall use the grant mon
ies only
to purchase emergency response kits, which shall include equipment necessary to track and triangulate searches, as well as transmitters or any other related equipment, and
to
provide training necessary for search personnel.

(
f
)

The lifesaver program account is created. The account shall consist of those funds appropriated to the account by the legislature and all monies received from federal grants and other contributions, grants, gifts,
transfers, bequests and donations to the account. The
department of health
is specifically empowered to accept grants, gifts, transfers, bequests and donations
to the account
. Funds in the account are continuously appropriated to the department for the purpose of
providing grants under
this section
and for purposes of subsection (g) of this section
.

(
g
)

The department of health shall provide outreach and education among law enforcement and families about the dangers of wandering and other potentially hazardous behavior when a wandering incident has occurred.
Not more than ten percent (10%) of funds within the lifesaver account shall be expended in any fiscal year for purposes of this subsection.

Section 2.

There is appropriated
two hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($
250
,000.00)

from the
general
fund to the
lifesaver program account
. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning wit
h the effective date of this act
.

This appropriation shall only be expended for the purpose of
grants to counties pursuant to W.S. 9
‑
2
‑
128.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any
other purpose
.

Any unexpended monies in the account shall not revert but shall remain in the account to be expended for the purposes specified in this act.

This appropriation shall be included in the department's
201
7
-
201
8
standard biennial budget
request
.

Section 3.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

1
HB0167