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HB0125 • 2023

Second veterans' skilled nursing facility.

AN ACT relating to veterans; authorizing planning and design for a skilled nursing facility for veterans; providing appropriations; requiring reports; and providing for an effective date.

Taxes
Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Representative Eklund
Last action
2023-02-07
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2023

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included details about reporting deadlines that were not explicitly stated in the official source material.

Planning and Design for Second Veterans' Skilled Nursing Facility

This act allows planning and design studies for a second skilled nursing facility for veterans in Wyoming, provides funding, requires reports, and sets an effective date.

What This Bill Does

  • Authorizes the state construction department to conduct level I reconnaissance studies and level II feasibility studies for a new veterans' skilled nursing facility.
  • Provides up to $300,000 from the general fund for planning and design studies.
  • Requires reports on the progress of planning and design by October 15, 2023.
  • Funds a study by the Department of Health to assess staffing needs and veteran demand for beds.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Veterans in Wyoming who may need skilled nursing care.
  • The state construction department responsible for planning and design studies.
  • The veterans' commission and health department involved in federal funding considerations and needs assessment.

Terms To Know

Green house model
A concept for alternative elder care that focuses on creating a home-like environment for residents.
Feasibility studies
Studies to determine the practicality and viability of a proposed project or facility.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill is marked as inactive, meaning it will not move forward in its current session.
  • It does not specify exact locations for the new facility beyond being at least 75 miles from an existing one in Buffalo, Wyoming.
  • Funding and bed numbers are limited to what is authorized by federal agencies.

Bill History

  1. 2023-02-07 House

    H:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to HR 5-4

  2. 2023-02-07 House

    H No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2023-01-17 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H02 - Appropriations

  4. 2023-01-13 House

    H Received for Introduction

  5. 2023-01-12 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
23LSO-0432
2023
STATE OF WYOMING
23LSO-0432
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0125

Second veterans' skilled nursing facility.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Eklund, Brown, Henderson, Niemiec and O'Hearn and Senator(s) Anderson, Barlow, Boner and Pappas

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to veterans; authorizing planning and design for a skilled nursing facility for veterans; providing appropriations; requiring reports; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1.

(a)

With assistance from the veterans' commission and the department of health, the state construction department is authorized to conduct level I reconnaissance studies and level II feasibility studies pursuant to W.S. 9
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5
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108 for a second veterans' skilled nursing facility located in the state not less than seventy-five (75) miles from the existing veterans' skilled nursing facility in Buffalo, Wyoming. This second facility shall be modeled after the existing veterans' skilled nursing facility, following the "green house" model concept for alternative elder care as provided in 2019 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 156, and providing a number of patient beds as directed by a Wyoming veterans' commission and department of health needs assessment under subsection (f) of this section but not exceeding the number of beds authorized by the United States department of veterans' affairs.

(b)

There is appropriated up to three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) from the general fund to the state construction department for the level I reconnaissance studies and level II feasibility studies authorized in subsection (a) of this section. This appropriation shall be a continuing appropriation available from the effective date of this act until the level I and level II planning and design are completed. Appropriated funds under this subsection shall be expended only on the level I reconnaissance studies and level II feasibility studies specified in subsection (a) of this section and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining upon completion of the project shall revert to the general fund.

(c)

The veterans' commission and department of health shall provide assistance to the state construction department necessary to assure that the veterans' skilled nursing facility is planned and designed in a manner that considers impacts on available federal funding.

(d)

Any contract required for the level I reconnaissance studies and level II feasibility studies authorized in this section shall be in accordance with W.S. 9-2-3204(b).

(e)

The state construction department, in consultation with the veterans' commission and the department of health, shall report on the level I and level II planning and design authorized under this section not later than October 15, 2023 to the state building commission, the joint transportation, highways and military affairs interim committee and the joint appropriations committee.

(f)

During the 2023 interim, the department of health shall conduct a study examining the availability of personnel to staff a second veterans' skilled nursing facility, the availability of skilled nursing facility beds in various locations of the state and the need by veterans for skilled nursing facility beds in various locations of the state. The Wyoming veterans' commission shall assist the department of health to assess veterans' needs and to request authorization from the United States department of veterans' affairs for additional beds if appropriate. Not later than October 15, 2023, the department of health shall present a report on its study to the joint transportation, highways and military affairs interim committee and the joint labor, health and social services interim committee.

(g)

There is appropriated up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) from the general fund to the department of health for purposes of the study authorized in subsection (f) of this section. This appropriation shall be for the period beginning with the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2024. This appropriation shall not be transferred or expended for any other purpose and any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining upon completion of the project shall revert to the general fund.

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)

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HB0125