Extension of legislative oversight committees proposed

Members of the Legislature’s Executive Board heard testimony Feb. 17 on resolutions that would continue the work of two select committees.

LR30, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Kathy Campbell, would establish the Health Care Reform Implementation and Oversight Committee. Campbell said the committee would build on work done over the interim by a previous select committee established to research and provide recommendations for implementing new federal health care legislation.

Campbell said the Legislature must prepare for significant changes in health care provision even if federal legislation is significantly changed or repealed.

“We need to be prepared no matter what,” she said.

The Health Care Reform Implementation and Oversight Committee would consist of nine senators appointed by the Executive Board, including two members each from the Banking, Commerce and Insurance, Health and Human Services and Appropriations committees.

Among other issues, the proposed committee would examine:

• creation of a state insurance exchange;
• technology for storing and transmitting health information;
• health care delivery and payment systems; and
• leveraging federal grants, pilot programs and other funding sources to assist with health care reform.

Jennifer Carter of Nebraska Appleseed testified in support of the resolution, saying the previous committee had been very useful, but that work remains to be done.

“There are many decisions big and small that need to be made,” she said. “It would be extremely helpful to have this process.”

The committee would report its findings to the Legislature by Dec. 31, 2011.

LR47, sponsored by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, would provide for continuation of the Developmental Disabilities Special Investigative Committee. The committee was established in 2008 in response to significant problems at the Beatrice State Developmental Center (BSDC), he said, and was extended for two years in 2009.

Lathrop said the committee was instrumental in positive changes at Beatrice and needs one more year to oversee the facility’s recertification by the federal government.

“We need to see BSDC across the finish line,” he said. “I think it’s important that we do it.”

The resolution would reauthorize the committee until January 2012.

No opposition testimony was given on either measure and the Executive Board took no immediate action on the resolutions.