A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the laws relating to the council for the deaf and THE hard of hearing, to increase the members on the council, and to change the appointing authority for two of the members appointed to the council.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑216.31 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B‑216.31.  Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – creation and duties.
There is hereby created the Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Council shall have duties including the following:
(1)	To make recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for cost-effective provision, coordination, and improvement of services;
(2)	To create public awareness of the specific needs and abilities of people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf‑blind and to consider the need for new State programs concerning the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind;
(3)	To advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during planning and implementation of services being provided to North Carolina citizens who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind with respect to the quality, extent, and scope of those services;
(4)	To advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction regarding planning, implementation, and cost-effective coordination of State programs providing educational services for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind; and
(5)	To respond to the request of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for advice or recommendations pertaining to any matter affecting deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind citizens of North Carolina."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 143B‑216.32 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B‑216.32.  Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – membership; quorum; compensation.
(a)	The Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing shall consist of 27 members. Nineteen members shall be members appointed by the Governor. Three members appointed by the Governor shall be persons who are deaf and three members shall be persons who are hard of hearing. One appointment shall be an educator who trains deaf education teachers and one appointment shall be an audiologist licensed under Article 22 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes. Three appointments shall be parents of deaf or hard of hearing children including one parent of a student in a residential school; one parent of a student in a preschool program; and one parent of a student in a mainstream education program, with at least one parent coming from each region of the North Carolina schools for the deaf regions. One member appointed by the Governor shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Association of the Deaf; one member shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Deaf-Blind Associates; one member shall be recommended by the North Carolina Chapter of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH); one member shall be recommended by the North Carolina Black Deaf Advocates (NCBDA); one member shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Pediatric Society; one member shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf; one member shall be recommended by a local education agency; and one member shall be recommended by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Two members shall be appointed from the House of Representatives by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and two members shall be appointed from the Senate by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall appoint four members as follows: one from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, one from the Division of Aging, one from the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, and one from the Division of Social Services.
(b)	The terms of the initial members of the Council shall commence July 1, 1989. In his initial appointments, the Governor shall designate four members who shall serve terms of five years, four who shall serve terms of four years, four who shall serve terms of three years, and three who shall serve terms of two years. After the initial appointees' terms have expired, all members shall be appointed for a term of four years. No member  shall serve more than two successive terms unless the member is an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Public Instruction representing his or her agency as a specialist in the field of service.
Any appointment to fill a vacancy on the Council created by the resignation, dismissal, death, or disability of a member shall be for the balance of the unexpired term.
(c)	The chairman of the Council shall be designated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from the Council members. The chairman shall hold this office for not more than four years.
(d)	The Council shall meet quarterly and at other times at the call of the chairman. A majority of the Council shall constitute a quorum.
(e)	Council members shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in accordance with G.S. 138‑5.
(f)	The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services shall provide clerical and other assistance as needed."
SECTION 3.  Pursuant to G.S. 143B‑216.32(a), as enacted in Section 2 of this act, when the term of the member appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services who is a representative from the North Carolina Chapter of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH) expires, the Governor shall appoint one member upon the recommendation of the North Carolina Chapter of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing to serve a four‑year term to commence July 1, 2003. When the term of the member appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services who is a representative from Statewide Parents' Education and Advocacy for Kids (SPEAK) expires, the Governor shall appoint one member upon the recommendation of the North Carolina Black Deaf Advocates (NCBDA) to serve a four‑year term to commence July 1, 2003.
Pursuant to G.S. 143B‑216.32(a), as enacted in Section 2 of this act, the member appointed by the Governor as recommended by the President of the North Carolina Deaf‑Blind Associates shall be appointed for a four‑year term to commence July 1, 2003 and the member appointed by the Governor as recommended by a local education agency shall be appointed for a four‑year term to commence July 1, 2003. Members described in this section shall serve for the terms for which they were appointed and until their successors are appointed and qualified.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.