§16-67-5. Powers and duties of the office.

The Office of Healthy Lifestyles shall:

(1) Establish a Healthy Lifestyle Coalition to assure consistency of the public health and private sector approach to dealing with programs that affect health and wellness; to provide a forum for discussing the issues that affect healthy lifestyles and to identify best practices that can be replicated. By July 1, 2026, the Secretary shall appoint 13 members of the Coalition whose terms shall be for a period of four years, and the members may be reappointed to a second term. The terms may be staggered to assure continuity of experience on the coalition. Members shall represent state agencies, community organizations and other entities which have an interest and expertise in healthy lifestyles. Members may not be compensated but shall receive reimbursement for expenses incurred while performing the business of the coalition. The Coalition shall meet monthly;

(2) Establish a clinical advisory committee to assure a unified approach using the latest research to assure consistency in program development;

(3) Establish a statewide voluntary private sector partnership and recognition program for employers, merchants, restaurants and other private sector businesses to encourage the development or further advance current programs that encourage healthy lifestyles;

(4) Coordinate higher education training programs for dietary and exercise physiology students with rural health care providers;

(5) Coordinate existing health promotion initiatives to assure clear, concise and consistent communication;

(6) Solicit, accept and expend grants, gifts, bequests, donations and other funds from any source for programs that will enable the state to accomplish the goals of this program;

(7) Develop a cross-agency series of goals to ensure consistency throughout the system of providers and agencies working in the area of improving lifestyles;

(8) Consider the resources of the local health departments and recommend ongoing relationships, as appropriate, between local health departments, family resource networks, faith-based organizations, cooperative extension services, farm bureaus and other health care providers;

(9) Encourage the development of incentives for participation in employee wellness programs. Incentives may be based upon, but should not be limited to, the employee's completion of health questionnaires or participating in healthy lifestyles initiatives, and may use experiences of successful initiatives that have occurred in this state. The action plan should include among its targets, state government employees in this incentive program;

(10) Build upon existing initiatives that focus on any of the coalition's goals, soliciting input from these initiatives and eliminating duplication of efforts; and

(11) Report its progress annually by December 1st to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resource Accountability; including:

(A) The initiatives and outcomes of efforts coordinated with the Department of Education;

(B) The initiatives and outcomes of efforts coordinated with the Department of Agriculture;

(C) The initiatives and outcomes of efforts coordinated with BMS; and

(D) The initiatives and outcomes of efforts coordinated with SNAP.