House Bill 1031

Chair's Name: Brooks Coleman

Committee:   Education

House Sponsor: Bill Hembree

HB 1031 requires that by July 1, 2008, each public high school which has an interscholastic athletics program must have at least one functional defibrillator on site and easily accessible during any school related function. Subsection (c) sets out in detail guidelines for training, maintenance, and use of the machines.

This bill comes to the House Floor under the Open Rule.

Secretary Benton’s Opinion of this legislation:

HB 1031 addresses safety issues at schools. It would require defibrillators at each public high school by July 1, 2008, along with personnel that have had training in its use. There is a need for this equipment at schools, especially those with sports programs. There is a private partnership in place to aid schools to acquire the machines, keeping this from becoming an unfunded mandate.