26:6C-5 Committee; organization, meetings, support staff.

5. a. The committee shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of a majority of its members, and shall annually elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among its members. The chairperson may appoint a secretary, who need not be a member of the committee.

b. The committee shall meet pursuant to a schedule to be established at its first meeting, and it shall additionally meet at the call of its chairperson or the Commissioner of Health; however, in no case shall the committee meet less than four times a year.

c. A majority of the total number of members appointed to the committee shall constitute a quorum for the conducting of official committee business. A vacancy in the membership of the committee shall not impair the right of the committee to exercise its powers and duties, provided that a majority of the currently appointed members are available to conduct business. Any recommendations of the committee shall be approved by a majority of the members present.

d. The members of the committee shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for such purposes.

e. The Department of Health shall employ, at a minimum, the following support staff for the committee: a program manager, a clinical nurse case abstractor; two maternal child health epidemiologists, a case abstraction manager, and any other staff the Commissioner of Health shall deem necessary. The Department of Health shall also provide such administrative staff support to the committee as shall be necessary for the committee to carry out its duties.

L.2019, c.75, s.5.