HOUSE BILL No. 4785

 

 

June 20, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Hughes, Marino, Lucido, Graves, Crawford, Sheppard, Kesto, Barrett, Faris, Kosowski, Bizon, Vaupel, Howrylak, Canfield, Glenn, Inman, Kelly, Pagel and Noble and referred to the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs.

 

     A bill to establish and implement a veterans service dog grant

 

program; to create a fund; and to prescribe the powers and duties

 

of certain state agencies and officials.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the

 

"veterans service dog act".

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Department" means the department of military and veterans

 

affairs.

 

     (b) "Fund" means the veterans service dog fund created in

 

section 4.

 

     (c) "Grant program" means the veterans service dog grant

 

program established in section 3.

 

     (d) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,

association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.

 

     (e) "Service dog" means a dog that is trained to do work or

 

perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including a

 

physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental

 

disability. The work done or tasks performed must be directly

 

related to the individual's disability and may include, but are not

 

limited to, guiding an individual who is visually impaired or

 

blind, alerting an individual who is deaf or has difficulty

 

hearing, pulling a wheelchair, assisting with mobility or balance,

 

alerting and protecting an individual who is having a seizure,

 

retrieving objects, alerting an individual to the presence of

 

allergens, providing physical support and assistance with balance

 

and stability to an individual with a mobility disability, helping

 

an individual with a psychiatric or neurological disability by

 

preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors,

 

reminding an individual with mental illness to take prescribed

 

medications, calming an individual with posttraumatic stress

 

disorder during an anxiety attack, or doing other specific work or

 

performing other special tasks. A service dog is not a pet. For

 

purposes of this subdivision, "do work or perform tasks" does not

 

include the crime-deterrent effect of an animal's presence or the

 

provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or

 

companionship.

 

     (f) "Service dog provider" means a person in the business of

 

training service dogs for sale.

 

     (g) "Veteran" means that term as it is defined in section 1 of

 

1965 PA 190, MCL 35.61.

     Sec. 3. (1) The department shall establish and implement a

 

veterans service dog grant program that uses money from the fund to

 

provide grants for the acquisition of service dogs for veterans.

 

     (2) The grant program must require that a veteran applying to

 

receive a grant contribute at least 50% of the cost of the service

 

dog, but not more than $3,000.00.

 

     (3) A veteran who wishes to apply for a grant shall submit an

 

application to the department containing the information required

 

by the department, including all of the following:

 

     (a) The name, address, and other contact information of the

 

service dog provider that will be providing the service dog.

 

     (b) The total cost of purchase of the service dog.

 

     (c) The amount of the grant that is being requested.

 

     (d) The amount that the veteran will be contributing toward

 

the purchase of the service dog and documentation of the source of

 

the veteran's contribution.

 

     (e) A letter in support of the grant from a congressionally

 

chartered veterans' organization or other organization approved by

 

the department.

 

     (4) If the department approves a grant, the department shall

 

notify the veteran. Upon confirmation that the veteran has paid the

 

veteran's share of the cost of the service dog, the department

 

shall disburse the grant funds to the service dog provider.

 

     Sec. 4. (1) The veterans service dog fund is created within

 

the state treasury.

 

     (2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from

 

any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall

direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit

 

to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.

 

     (3) The fund must have an accumulated principal limitation of

 

$5,000,000.00, exclusive of interest and earnings. Any money

 

received by the fund after the fund reaches its accumulated

 

principal limitation must be forwarded to the state treasurer for

 

deposit into the Michigan veterans' trust fund established in

 

section 37 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963.

 

     (4) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year remains

 

in the fund and does not lapse to the general fund.

 

     (5) The department shall be the administrator of the fund for

 

auditing purposes.

 

     (6) The department shall expend money from the fund, upon

 

appropriation, only for the following:

 

     (a) Grants issued pursuant to the grant program.

 

     (b) Not more than 10% of the money appropriated from the fund

 

for the employment of not more than 1 FTE to administer the grant

 

program.

 

     Sec. 5. At least every 5 years, the department shall prepare a

 

report for the reporting period that describes the money received

 

by the fund, the balance of the fund, the total expenditures from

 

the fund, and the number of grants issued with money from the fund.

 

The department shall provide this report to the standing committees

 

of each house of the legislature with jurisdiction over veterans

 

issues.

 

     Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the

 

date it is enacted into law.