2009 Legislature Passes Important Measures

Here is a summary of bills of particular interest to AARP members passed by the 2009 North Dakota Legislature.

Helping People Stay at Home

Legislators adopted a number of provisions that, collectively, will allow more people to choose to remain in their homes and avoid institutional care as long as possible.

• Increased medically needy eligibility to 83% of poverty;
• Added a third tier of personal care (up to 10 hours per day);
• Increased sliding fee scales for Service Payments for the Elderly and Disabled (SPED) to lower fees for in-home care;
• Added $900,000 for senior meals and raised cap on home delivered meals to 7 per week;
• Added non-medical transportation to SPED and Expanded SPED;
• Removed cap on family foster care so there is less paperwork and hopefully more individuals can now choose this kind of care;
• Increased reimbursement rate for in-home care providers $1 per hour, plus 6% each year of the biennium beginning July 1st;
• Doubled training funding for Qualified Service Providers.

Dementia Care

Legislators appropriated $1.2 million to fund eight dementia care service providers in the state. Care managers will help families find in-home, respite care, and other services, educate families on the disease, educate the community on interacting with individuals who have dementia, and help people with dementia remain in their homes as long as possible.

Transit

Two transit coordination pilot projects will take place, one urban and one rural. By allowing various programs to share vehicles, funding sources, insurance, drivers and dispatch, we can be more efficient and provide greater opportunities to get people where they need to go.

Tax Credit

Under the homestead tax credit, both income eligibility and property tax valuation exemptions increased for individuals 65 and older or who are permanently and totally disabled. This helps make property taxes remain affordable even as their income decreases.

Oil Trust Fund

Look for another permanent oil trust constitutional measure on the ballot in 2010. It specifies 30 percent of revenue from oil and gas production or extraction taxes (principal and earnings) be set aside and untouchable until 2017. After that, only 15 percent of the principal can be tapped and only then with a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature. The state investment board will invest the principal.

Redistricting

After the 2010 census, North Dakota will look at redrawing its legislative districts. There were three proposals to submit this process to an independent or bipartisan commission that would determine size and boundaries of districts based on population and geography, essentially taking redistricting out of the political arena. All three resolutions failed and redistricting will remain with legislators and reflective of the political balance in the Senate and House of Representatives at the time of redistricting.

Consumers Win

Consumers who choose to take advantage of freezing their credit information can now access their credit more quickly with a 15 minute “thaw” of that freeze. Just ask the sales person which credit rating company they wish to use and temporarily undo the freeze for them within 15 minutes with an e-mail or phone call and your PIN number.

Guardianship

Individuals who have guardians or act as guardians will find it less confusing now when traveling from state to state. The Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act will clarify who has jurisdiction when ward, guardian, and property may all be in different states.

Health Registry

The Secretary of State will be implementing a health care registry next year for individuals who have an advance directive. Travelers will have a wallet card with information that will allow them to access the advanced directive quickly on a website. Meanwhile, the information remains secure.