(1) There is created the Task Force on Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, which will be responsible for making available state-of-the-art information on heart disease and stroke education, prevention and treatment to health-care providers in Mississippi. The task force will serve as a consensus group designed to coordinate efforts in heart disease and stroke education, prevention and treatment.

(2) The task force will consist of nineteen (19) members. Membership of the task force will include one (1) representative from each of the following agencies, organizations or entities, as designated by each respective agency, organization or entity:

(a) State Department of Health;

(b) State Department of Education;

(c) Division of Medicaid, Office of the Governor;

(d) State Department of Health, Division of Emergency Medical Services;

(e) American Heart Association (Southeast Affiliate – Mississippi);

(f) Mississippi State Medical Association;

(g) Mississippi Nurses Association;

(h) Mississippi Hospital Association;

(i) Mississippi Primary Health Care Association;

(j) University of Mississippi Medical Center;

(k) Mississippi Chronic Illness Coalition;

(l) Mississippi Alliance for School Health;

(m) Information and Quality Health Care;

(n) Mississippi Association of Health System Pharmacists;

(o) Health Research and Educational Foundation, Inc.; and

(p) Association of Black Cardiologists.

(3) In addition to the members designated in subsection (2), membership of the task force will consist of the following persons:

(a) One (1) member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(b) One (1) member of the Mississippi Senate, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; and

(c) One (1) person appointed by the Governor.

(4) At its first meeting, the task force shall elect a chairman and other necessary officers from among its membership. The chairman and other officers shall be elected annually by the task force. The task force shall adopt bylaws and rules for its efficient operation. The task force may establish committees that will be responsible for conducting specific task force programs or activities.

(5) The task force shall meet and conduct business at least quarterly. All meetings of the task force and any committees of the task force will be open to the public, with opportunities for public comment provided on a regular basis. Notice of all meetings shall be given as provided in the Open Meetings Act (Section 25-41-1 et seq.) and appropriate notice also shall be given to all persons so requesting of the date, time and place of each meeting. Ten (10) members of the task force will constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(6) The task force is assigned to the State Department of Health for administrative purposes only, and the department shall designate staff to assist the task force. The task force will have a line item in the budget of the State Department of Health and will be financed through the department’s annual appropriation.

(7) Members of the task force who are not legislators, state officials or state employees may be compensated at the per diem rate authorized by Section 25-3-69 and may be reimbursed in accordance with Section 25-3-41 for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Legislative members of the task force will be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same manner as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. However, legislative members will not be paid per diem or expenses for attending meetings of the task force while the Legislature is in session. No task force member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless previously authorized by vote, at a meeting of the task force, which action must be recorded in the official minutes of the meeting. Nonlegislative members may be paid from any funds made available to the task force for that purpose.