MI BOARD OF NURSING: REVISE REPRESENTATION

House Bill 5327 (Substitute H-1)

Sponsor:  Rep. Jerry O. Kooiman

Committee:  Health Policy

Complete to 6-20-06

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5327 AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE 6-6-06

Currently, the Michigan Board of Nursing has 23 members:  nine registered professional nurses, one nurse midwife, one nurse anesthetist, one nurse practitioner, three licensed practical nurses, and eight public members.

House Bill 5327 would amend the Public Health Code (MCL 333.17221) to require that, in certain situations, preference for appointment to the board would be given to an applicant from a geographic region in the state that was not already represented.

If, on or after the bill's effective date, more than one individual was seeking appointment or reappointment to the board, and both candidates met the code's requirements for board membership and had similar qualifications, preference would have to be given to the individual who resided in, or was employed in, a health service area that was not currently being represented on the board in order to broaden the geographic representation on the board to include a representative from each health service area and to maintain that equity.

The bill would define "health service area" to mean seven regions and would detail the counties that would be included in each of the regions.  The regions would be Southeast, Midsouthern, Southwest, West, East, Northern Lower, and Upper Peninsula.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bill would have no fiscal impact on the state or local units of government.

POSITIONS:

The Department of Community Health opposes the bill.  (6-6-06)

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   Susan Stutzky

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Susan Frey

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.