OKLAHOMA CITY — A state lawmaker whose district lost power during a winter storm said Tuesday he wants to require backup generators in assisted living centers.
State Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, held an interim study on the issue Tuesday before the House Human Services Committee. The studies are designed to educate and inform members about policy issues that may come before them during the 2011 legislative session that begins in February.
Dorman, who said a constituent’s elderly mother was forced to move from her assisted living center during the weeklong power outage, said he wants to mimic a Maryland law that requires facilities with more than 50 residents to have backup power.
The law allows for a financial hardship waiver, Dorman said.
The requirement would not apply to nursing homes or residential-care facilities, which are more strictly regulated.
But Dorman said his bill would include a requirement that all facilities, including nursing homes, have detailed disaster and evacuation plans filed with the local fire department.
“It’s highly encouraged right now,” Dorman said, “but there’s no requirement.
Of the 139 continuum of care and assisted living centers in the state, nearly 70 percent reported having a generator, said Jim Buck, assistant chief of the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s long-term care service.
Despite the lack of a backup power mandate, Buck said the state’s facilities responded well during last winter’s storm and widespread power outages.
“We lost no lives in these facilities,” he said. “They did respond appropriately, and those residents’ needs were being met.”
A powerful January storm brought heavy layers of ice that accumulated on electrical lines and tree limbs, knocking out lights and power to more than 132,000 homes and businesses in the state.
A similar bill by Dorman last year died after opposition from several Republican members who argued it was an unnecessary state mandate on private business, including state Rep. Mike Reynolds, who attended Tuesday’s hearing.
“The private enterprise can handle this,” said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. “In general, I’m against mandates. I believe the free market is the way to handle these types of situations.”
