2018 -- S 2669 SUBSTITUTE A

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY AND EVALUATE THE

IMPACT OF "PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Seveney, Coyne, Calkin, and Goldin

     Date Introduced: March 20, 2018

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     WHEREAS, In 2012, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted legislation to

implement "Project Sustainability" within the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral

Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH); and

     WHEREAS, The goal of the Project was to bring predictability, efficiency, and

transparency to the way in which the state pays for services for the developmentally disabled; and

     WHEREAS, Project Sustainability implemented a nationally recognized tool, the

Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) in order to establish a new rate structure; and

     WHEREAS, Recently, BHDDH migrated to the SIS-A tool in order to assess its clients;

now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That a special legislative commission be and the same is hereby created

consisting of nineteen (19) members: three (3) of whom shall be members of the Senate, not more

than two (2) from the same political party, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; one of

whom shall be the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), or

designee; one of whom shall be the Medicaid Director of the EOHHS, or designee; one of whom

shall be the Director of the BHDDH, or designee; one of whom shall be the BHDDH Director of

the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), or designee; one of whom shall be the

BHDDH Finance Director of the DDD, or designee; one of whom shall be the BHDDH Consent

Decree Coordinator, or designee; one of whom shall be the Executive Director of the Community

Provider Network of Rhode Island (CPNRI), or designee; one of whom shall be the President of

Our Providers Council, or designee; one of whom shall be the Executive Director of the Rhode

Island Disability Law Center, or designee; one of whom shall be the BHDDH Associate Director

of the DDD, or designee; one of whom shall be Director of the Paul V. Sherlock Center on

Disabilities, or designee; one of whom shall be the Director of the Rhode Island Developmental

Disability Council, or designee; one of whom shall be the Chairperson of Rhode Island Families

Organized for Reform Change and Empowerment (RI FORCE), or designee; and three (3) of

whom shall be provider representatives with relevant systems or fiscal expertise, to be appointed

by the President of the Senate.

     In lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a permanent advisory

commission, a legislative study commission, or any commission created by a General Assembly

resolution, the appointing authority may appoint a member of the general public to serve in lieu

of a legislator, provided that the majority leader or the minority leader of the political party which

is entitled to the appointment consent to the member of the general public.

     The purpose of said commission shall be to study and evaluate the impact of Project

Sustainability and make recommendations for improvements in its implementation, including, but

not limited to, the rate payment methodology.

     Forthwith upon passage of this resolution, the members of the commission shall meet at

the call of the President of the Senate and organize and shall select, from among the legislators, a

chairperson. Vacancies in said commission shall be filed in like manner as the original

appointment.

     The membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services.

     All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information,

documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or

desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this resolution.

     The Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to provide

suitable quarters for said commission; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the

Senate no later than March 1, 2019, and said commission shall expire on June 30, 2019.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY AND EVALUATE THE

IMPACT OF "PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

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     This resolution would create a nineteen (19) member special legislative commission

whose purpose it would be to make a comprehensive study and provide recommendations on the

impact of "Project Sustainability", and who would report back to the Senate no later than March

1, 2019, and whose life would expire on June 30, 2019.

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