Representative Jones introduced House Bill 7 17, the “Caring for Caregivers Act,” and the subcommittee unanimously voted to advance the bill to the full Health Committee.

Representative Jones said she sponsored the bill after meeting a constituent who described his grandfather’s battle with Alzheimer’s and his wife’s growing caregiver burden. “I am honored to sponsor House Bill 7 17, the Caring for Caregivers Act,” she said, recounting how the constituent’s wife, “missus Fox, slowly started to lose not only her health, but her identity as she became overwhelmed with the burden of caring for her husband.”

The bill would create a three-year pilot program administered by the Department of Disability and Aging to provide one-time $6,000 financial grants to family caregivers of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Representative Jones said caregivers of Alzheimer’s and related dementias face high costs, noting that such caregivers “spend over $36,000 a year on lost wages and caregiving expenses.” She told the committee the program aims to serve “approximately 360,000 caregivers of this state.”

Under the bill text read into the record, the pilot is explicitly three years long and provides the $6,000 grants to family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Representative Jones cited other states that have established similar programs, naming Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina as having programs to cover out-of-pocket expenses for caregivers.

After brief remarks and no substantive questions from committee members, the clerk recorded the roll call. The clerk reported “8 ayes, 0 nays,” and the chairman announced, “Ayes have it. House bill 7 17 moves on to health full.”

The bill will next be considered by the full House Health Committee. The subcommittee record does not specify program funding sources or an implementation timeline beyond the three-year pilot language.