State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Introduced ][ House Amendment 001 ]

91_HB0378eng

 
HB0378 Engrossed                              LRB9100561SMdvA

 1        AN  ACT  regarding  mental  health   services   community
 2    reinvestment.

 3        WHEREAS, It is hereby declared to be the public policy of
 4    the  State  of Illinois that funds saved due to reductions in
 5    expenditures for State-operated health  facilities  shall  be
 6    invested in community mental health services; and

 7        WHEREAS,  This  Act  shall be interpreted to achieve this
 8    goal; therefore

 9        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
10    represented in the General Assembly:

11        Section  1.   Short  title.  This Act may be cited as the
12    Mental Health Services Community Reinvestment Act.

13        Section 5.  Fund preservation.  Every appropriation  bill
14    relating  to funding for the Department of Human Services for
15    operating mental health  facilities  shall  comply  with  the
16    following rules and principles:
17        (a)  Whenever  any appropriation, or portion thereof, for
18    any fiscal year relating to the funding of any mental  health
19    facility  operated  by  the  Department  of Human Services is
20    reduced because of any of the reasons set forth in subsection
21    (b), those funds shall be added to the funds appropriated  to
22    the  Department  of Human Services to be used for: (i) mental
23    health services in the same service area,  as  that  term  is
24    defined   in   Section  1-114.5  of  the  Mental  Health  and
25    Developmental  Disabilities  Code,  as  the   mental   health
26    facility  whose  funding is being reduced or eliminated; (ii)
27    the mental health  facility  or  facilities  that  will  have
28    responsibility  for  the  service  area  or  a portion of the
29    service area of the mental health facility whose  funding  is
30    being  reduced; and (iii) the Chester Mental Health Center to
 
HB0378 Engrossed            -2-               LRB9100561SMdvA
 1    ensure appropriate staffing levels, as this facility provides
 2    services to all areas of the State.
 3        (b)  Reductions of funds subject to this Act include:
 4             (i)  the closing of any mental health facility;
 5             (ii)  the reduction in the number of available  beds
 6        in any mental health facility; and
 7             (iii)  a reduction in the qualifications required of
 8        staff employed in any mental health facility.
 9        (c)  An  appropriation  bill  shall  not  circumvent  the
10    purposes  of  this  Act  by transferring funds from inpatient
11    mental health services to community  mental  health  services
12    and then compensating for this transfer by transferring money
13    from   community   mental   health  services  to  some  other
14    government  purpose  or  to   a   reduction   in   government
15    expenditures.
16        (d)  The total amount of funds appropriated in any fiscal
17    year  for  mental  health services shall not be reduced below
18    the  amount  appropriated  for  the  previous  fiscal   year,
19    adjusted  for  inflation,  unless one of the following events
20    occurs:
21             (i)  total State government appropriations  decline,
22        in  which  case appropriations for mental health services
23        may be reduced by the same percentage; or
24             (ii)  an  advisory  committee  established  by   the
25        Department  for  this  purpose,  the  majority  of  whose
26        members  are  mental health professionals not employed by
27        or under contract to any State  agency,  determines  that
28        there  has  been  an  improvement  in the efficiency with
29        which mental health services may be delivered which would
30        justify a reduction  in  appropriations,  in  which  case
31        funding  for  mental  health services may be reduced by a
32        percentage determined by the committee to  be  reasonably
33        related  to  the  efficiency  improvements  found  by the
34        committee.
 
HB0378 Engrossed            -3-               LRB9100561SMdvA
 1        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act  takes  effect  on
 2    January 1 of the year following the year it becomes law.

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