Refugee resettlement plan accountability.

2016
State of Wyoming
16LSO-0248
ENGROSSED
2.1

HOUSE BILL

NO.

HB0047

Refugee resettlement plan accountability.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Reeder, Allen, Blackburn, Clem, Halverson, Jaggi, Jennings, Kroeker, Miller and Steinmetz and Senator(s) Driskill and Meier

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to refugee resettlement; requiring legislative approval of a refugee resettlement plan; providing for assignment to a committee; providing for public hearings; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1
.

W.S. 9
‑
21
‑
101 is created to read:

CHAPTER 21
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

9
‑
21
‑
101
.

Wyoming refugee resettlement plan accountability
.

(a)

T
he
Wyoming legislature
is hereby declared
to be
the
appropriate legislative authority
of the state

in accordance with

45 C.F.R. part 400
with
exclusive authority to d
esignate a
state agency
to develop and administer, or supervise the administration of, any

refugee
resettlement plan
and

to designate a state coordinator
to be responsible for coordination of public and private resources in refugee resettlement
.

For purposes of this act
"
r
efugee resettlement plan" means any written description of a refugee or asylum

seeking resettlement program or any
commitment by the
governor or any designee of the governor to administer or supervise the administration of a refugee or asylum

seeking resettlement program pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §
1521 et seq
.

(b)

The governor or any designee o
f the governor shall rescind all
refugee resettlement plan
s

or agreement
s

submitted to the
office of refugee resettlement within the United States department of health and human services
prior to
the
effective date of this
act
.
No refugee resettlement plan
for refugees
to be
place
d

in the state of Wyoming
shall
be
effective
until the refugee resettlement plan
is
submitted to and
approved by
the
legislature

as provided under
subsections (c)
and
(d)
of this
section
.

(c)

The
g
overnor or any
designee
of the governor

shall submit any
refugee resettlement plan

to the legislature
for approval
.
Any refugee resettlement plan submitted to the
legislature

shall
provide
:

(i)

A description of how the state intends to encourage effective refugee resettlement and to promote economic self
‑
sufficiency
of refugees
as quickly as possible;

(ii)

A description of how the state will insure that language training and employment services are made available to refugees receiving cash assistance;

(iii)

A recommendation for
the designation of an individual, employed by the
s
tate, who will be responsible for
e
nsuring coordination of public and private re
sources in refugee resettlement;

(iv)

F
or
the care and supervision of
,
and legal responsibility for
,
unaccompanied re
fugee children in the
s
tate;

(v)

F
or the identification of refugees who at t
he time of resettlement in the s
tate have medical conditions requiring, or medical histories indicating a need for, treatment or observation and
for any monitoring
of such treatment or observation as may be necessary;

(
vi
)

A
description
of fund
s
necessary
to
implement
the refugee resettlement plan
and
a
complete
description

of
projected
federal
or private funds
available to
carry out
the refugee resettlement plan
including reimbursements, grants and contracts
.
The description
shall include a timeline
for receipt and expenditure of funds
and a projection of
any
state
funds

necessary
to implement the
refugee resettlement plan

after all reimbursement
s
, grants and contracts are exhausted.

(d
)

Upon receipt, the legislature's
management council shall assign the refugee resettlement plan to a
joint interim
committee and the committee shall review the
plan and
convene public hearing
s
to receive comme
nts from
Wyoming citizens,
local government representatives
, volunteer agencies
and
other interested parties o
n the
plan
.

The committee shall report recommendations
for consideration by the legislature in the next legislative session
and may develop and introduce legislation
to implement or authorize any
refugee resettlement plan
.

Section
2
.

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
HB0047