SB222INTRODUCED
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SB222
528VM3M-1
By Senator Weaver
RFD: Healthcare
First Read: 19-Mar-24
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5 528VM3M-1 02/14/2024 KMS (L)cr 2024-665
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First Read: 19-Mar-24
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, the Board of Nursing is
responsible for the licensing and regulation of the
nursing profession in the state.
This bill would authorize the board to provide
financial assistance to licensees and applicants for
licensing to defray the costs of certain mental and
physical evaluations required by the board.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the Board of Nursing; to amend Section
34-21-4, Code of Alabama 1975, to authorize the board to
provide financial assistance to licensees and applicants for
licensing to defray the costs of certain mental and physical
evaluations required by the board; and to make nonsubstantive,
technical revisions to update existing code language to
current style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 34-21-4 of the Code of Alabama 1975,
is amended to read as follows:
"§34-21-4
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"§34-21-4
(a) All funds and revenues of whatever kind authorized
or collected under the provisions of this chapter or the
regulations rules of the board shall be collected by the board
and shall be handled in accordance with existing regulations
rules and accounting procedures of state departments and
deposited in the board's trust fund in the State Treasury.
Disbursements and withdrawals of such the funds by the board
shall be made in accordance with existing regulations rules
and accounting procedures of state departments. The board
shall pay all of its expenses from its own funds, and no
expenses shall be borne by the State of Alabama from general
funds of the state.
All the rights, duties, powers, and authority now or
hereafter vested by law in the Board of Nurses' Examiners and
Registration are hereby transferred to and vested in the Board
of Nursing, and all rights, powers, duties, and authorities,
whether clerical, executive, administrative, judicial, or
quasi-judicial, now vested by law in the Board of Nurses'
Examiners and Registration, shall be vested in the Board of
Nursing hereby created and shall be exercised by it, together
with any additional rights, powers, and authorities herein
given or created by this chapter. The jurisdiction, functions,
funds, effects, and personnel of the Board of Nurses'
Examiners and Registration are hereby transferred to the Board
of Nursing and covered with their current status. No
unexpended funds of the Board of Nurses' Examiners and
Registration or the Board of Nursing shall ever revert to the
State of Alabama but shall remain the property of the Board of
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State of Alabama but shall remain the property of the Board of
Nursing.
(b) The board may expend funds received from gifts and
grants to provide financial assistance to defray the cost of
evaluations for substance use disorder or mental or physical
impairment for licensees or applicants for licensing, when an
evaluation is required by a board order or board agreement,
under terms, conditions, and limitations provided by rule, and
may contract for, or otherwise make available, online
counseling resources to licensees and applicants for
licensing, under terms, conditions, and limitations provided
by rule. Counseling and evaluation services provided pursuant
to or funded pursuant to this subsection shall be provided by
licensed practitioners who are approved by the board. The
board may not exercise control over any recommendation made
pursuant to an evaluation or any advice or recommendation
provided pursuant to counseling provided by an approved
licensed practitioner. Nothing in this subsection is intended
to create a right in any licensee or applicant for licensing
to any service or payment for any service. Nothing in this
subdivision shall create a private right of action by a
licensee or applicant for licensing against the board or any
approved licensed practitioner whose services are provided or
funded pursuant to this subsection. "
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2024.
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