[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1255 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1255

    To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate care 
facilities for the mentally retarded in class action lawsuits on behalf 
                           of such resident.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 3, 2009

Mr. Frank of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Poe 
of Texas, Mr. Paul, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Dreier, Mr. Daniel E. 
   Lungren of California, Mr. Kanjorski, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate care 
facilities for the mentally retarded in class action lawsuits on behalf 
                           of such resident.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROTECTING THE INTERESTS OF EACH RESIDENT OF INTERMEDIATE 
              CARE FACILITIES FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED IN CLASS ACTION 
              LAWSUITS ON BEHALF OF SUCH RESIDENT.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
entity that receives funds from the Federal Government may use such 
funds to file a class action lawsuit against an intermediate care 
facility for the mentally retarded on behalf of any resident of such 
facility unless the resident (or, if there is a legal representative of 
the resident, such legal representative), after receiving notice of the 
proposed class action lawsuit, has the opportunity to elect not to have 
the action apply to the resident.
    (b) Notices; Resident Right of Withdrawal From Lawsuit.--
            (1) Plaintiff notice of proposed lawsuit to facility.--If 
        an entity uses funds from the Federal Government to file a 
        class action lawsuit against an intermediate care facility for 
        the mentally retarded on behalf of residents of such facility, 
        the entity shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to the 
        facility at least 90 days before the date of filing of the 
        lawsuit.
            (2) Facility notice of proposed lawsuit to residents.--Not 
        later than 30 days after the date the facility receives such 
        notice, the facility shall provide notice of the proposed 
        lawsuit to each resident of such facility on behalf of which 
        the lawsuit is proposed to be filed and, if there is a legal 
        representative of such a resident, to such representative.
            (3) Resident right to withdraw from lawsuit.--A resident 
        (or, if there is a legal representative of such a resident, the 
        legal representative) may elect not to be part of such a 
        proposed lawsuit by filing a notice of such decision with the 
        facility within 60 days of the date the facility notifies the 
        resident or legal representative of the proposed class lawsuit.
    (c) Legal Representative Defined.--In this section, the term 
``legal representative'' means, with respect to a resident of an 
intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, an individual who 
has been appointed under State law to be a legal guardian, conservator, 
or other representative for the resident and who is authorized under 
law to make decisions on behalf of the resident with respect to care 
and treatment of the resident in the facility.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall apply to lawsuits filed 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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