HIGHER ED. SEX ASSAULT GRANT PROGRAM H.B. 5792 (H-1):
SUMMARY OF BILL
REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
House Bill 5792 (Substitute H-1 as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Representative Jon Hoadley
House Committee: Law and Justice
CONTENT
The bill would enact the "Campus Sexual Assault Response Improvement Plan and Grant Act" to do the following:
-- Encourage institutions of higher education to develop a five-year campus sexual assault improvement plan.
-- Encourage institutions to submit the plans to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board by January 1, 2019, and submit to those entities a final report regarding the plans' implementation and any improvements to responses to campus sexual assault by January 1, 2024.
-- Establish the "Campus Sexual Assault Response Improvement Grant Fund" within the Department of Treasury.
-- Establish the Campus Sexual Assault Response Improvement Grant Program within the DHHS, and require the Board to monitor, review, and evaluate the Program.
-- Allow an institution of higher education that had developed a five-year campus sexual assault improvement plan to participate in the Program.
-- Provide for grants to be given to Program participants, and specify the purposes for which grant funds could be used.
-- Require the Department to compile a report of best practices for responses to campus sexual assault after receiving a final report or an annual report, and then once every five years.
Legislative Analyst: Jeff Mann
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have an indeterminate impact on public universities and local community college districts that would depend on the number of institutions that chose to develop five-year campus sexual assault improvement plans, costs related to the development of those plans, and the availability and amount of grant funding available in the Campus Sexual Assault Response Improvement Grant Fund.
The bill also would result in a cost to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to assist institutions of higher education in implementing improvement measures for campus sexual assault response. The cost to the DHHS would be in administering the Program and for the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board to monitor, review, and evaluate the grant program. The DHHS has estimated a cost of $288,000 annually to administer the Program. As the requirement on the Board would be contingent on appropriations made to the proposed Fund as well as any participating institutions of higher education, there would be no costs in administering the Program until there were participants and funds available to be awarded. It is likely that there would be some implementation costs to set up the Program regardless of the commencement of activity related to the Fund.
The bill also would have a minor fiscal impact on the Department of Treasury, which would experience costs from administering the Campus Sexual Assault Response Improvement Grant Fund. These costs would likely be minimal and within current appropriations.
Date Completed: 6-11-18 Fiscal Analyst: Bill Bowerman
John Maxwell
Cory Savino
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.