House File 584 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 584 BY LOHSE A BILL FOR An Act relating to the opioid settlement fund, establishing 1 the opioid epidemic response advisory council, making 2 appropriations, and including effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko
H.F. 584 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 123B.1 Opioid epidemic response 1 advisory council. 2 1. a. The opioid epidemic response advisory council is 3 established to develop and implement a comprehensive and 4 effective statewide effort to address the opioid addiction and 5 overdose epidemic in Iowa. The council shall consist of the 6 following members, appointed by the director of the department 7 of health and human services, except as otherwise provided: 8 (1) One member appointed by the board of pharmacy. 9 (2) One member who is a physician and surgeon or 10 osteopathic physician and surgeon appointed by the Iowa medical 11 association. 12 (3) One member who represents an opioid treatment program, 13 sober living program, or substance use disorder program. 14 (4) One member appointed by the Iowa association of 15 addiction professionals who is a psychiatrist specializing in 16 the treatment of addiction. 17 (5) One member appointed by the Iowa emergency medical 18 services association who is serving with an ambulance service 19 as an emergency medical care provider. 20 (6) One member who represents the Iowa courts who is a 21 judge. 22 (7) One member appointed by the director of the office of 23 drug control policy. 24 (8) One member who represents a local health department. 25 (9) The directors of the departments of health and human 26 services and corrections, the attorney general, and the state 27 public defender, or their designees, who shall serve as ex 28 officio, nonvoting members. 29 b. The director of the department of health and human 30 services shall coordinate the directors appointments to 31 provide, to the extent practicable, geographic, racial, and 32 gender diversity. 33 c. The council shall annually elect a chair. 34 d. The chair shall convene the council at least quarterly, 35 -1- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 1/ 7
H.F. 584 and the chair may convene the council at other times as 1 necessary. The chair shall convene meetings at different 2 locations in the state to provide geographic access and may 3 conduct all meetings, other than one meeting per year, remotely 4 by electronic means. 5 e. The department of health and human services shall provide 6 staffing and administrative support to the council. 7 f. The director of the department of health and human 8 services shall convene the first meeting of the council no 9 later than September 1, 2025. 10 g. An advisory council member shall disclose to the council, 11 refrain from participating in discussions, and abstain from 12 voting on any matter before the council if the member has a 13 conflict of interest. For the purposes of this paragraph, a 14 conflict of interest is a financial association that has the 15 potential to bias or have the appearance of biasing a council 16 members decision related to council activities under this 17 chapter. 18 2. The council shall focus on all of the following: 19 a. Primary prevention, secondary prevention, early 20 intervention, and education, including public education and 21 awareness for adults and youth, prescriber education, the 22 development and sustainability of opioid overdose prevention 23 and education programs, and the role of adult protective 24 services in prevention and response. 25 b. Training on the treatment of opioid addiction, including 26 the use of all approved opioid addiction medications, 27 detoxification, relapse prevention, patient assessment, 28 individual treatment planning, counseling, recovery supports, 29 diversion control, local reporting, and other best practices. 30 c. The expansion and enhancement of a continuum of care 31 for opioid-related substance use disorders, including primary 32 prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, and 33 aftercare services. 34 d. Supporting efforts to prevent or reduce deaths from 35 -2- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 2/ 7
H.F. 584 opioid overdoses or other opioid-related harms, including 1 through increasing the availability or distribution of naloxone 2 or other opioid antagonists for use by a family member, friend, 3 caregiver, health care provider, employee of a substance abuse 4 treatment facility, school employee, or other person who may be 5 in a place to render aid to a person at risk of experiencing an 6 opioid-related overdose. 7 3. The council shall do all of the following: 8 a. Review local, state, and federal initiatives and 9 activities related to education, prevention, treatment, and 10 services for individuals and families experiencing and affected 11 by opioid use disorder. 12 b. Establish priorities to address the states opioid 13 epidemic for the purposes of recommending initiatives to fund. 14 c. Recommend to the general assembly specific projects and 15 initiatives to be funded. The council shall not recommend 16 grants in excess of the balance of the opioid settlement fund. 17 d. Ensure that available funding is allocated to align with 18 other local, state, and federal funding to achieve the greatest 19 impact and ensure a coordinated state effort. 20 e. Consult with the directors of the departments of health 21 and human services and management to develop measurable 22 outcomes to determine the effectiveness of funds allocated. 23 f. Develop recommendations for an administrative and 24 organizational framework for the allocation, on a sustainable 25 and ongoing basis, of moneys deposited in the opioid settlement 26 fund created pursuant to section 12.51 in order to address the 27 opioid abuse and overdose epidemic in Iowa and the areas of 28 focus specified in subsection 2. 29 4. The council, in consultation with the director of the 30 department of health and human services, shall select from the 31 projects awarded grants pursuant to section 123B.2, projects 32 that include promising practices or theory-based activities 33 for which the director of the department of health and human 34 services shall conduct additional research and experimental 35 -3- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 3/ 7
H.F. 584 evaluation. A project selected pursuant to this subsection 1 must be administered to support the research and experimental 2 evaluation, and the grantee must collect and report information 3 that is needed to complete the research and experimental 4 evaluation. 5 5. The council, in consultation with the directors of the 6 departments of health and human services and public safety, 7 shall establish goals related to addressing the opioid epidemic 8 and determine a baseline against which progress shall be 9 monitored and set measurable outcomes, including benchmarks. 10 The goals established must include goals for prevention and 11 public health, access to treatment, and multigenerational 12 impacts. The council shall use existing measures and data 13 collection systems to determine baseline data against which 14 progress shall be measured. The council shall include 15 the proposed goals, the measurable outcomes, and proposed 16 benchmarks in the councils initial report to the general 17 assembly pursuant to section 123B.3, subsection 1. 18 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 123B.2 Opioid epidemic response 19 grants. 20 1. The general assembly shall award grants of no more than 21 five hundred thousand dollars from the opioid settlement fund 22 created pursuant to section 12.51 to proposals selected by 23 the advisory council that address the priorities identified 24 in section 123B.1, subsection 2. No more than three percent 25 of each grant awarded shall be used by a grantee for 26 administration. 27 2. The chairperson of the opioid epidemic response advisory 28 council shall submit a report of the grants awarded, and 29 proposed to be awarded, for the upcoming fiscal year by the 30 advisory council to the general assembly by December 1, 2026, 31 and annually by December 1 thereafter. 32 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 123B.3 Opioid epidemic response 33 advisory council reports. 34 1. The opioid epidemic response advisory council shall 35 -4- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 4/ 7
H.F. 584 annually submit a report to the general assembly by January 1 31, regarding individual projects that received grants and the 2 overall role of the project in addressing the opioid addiction 3 and overdose epidemic in Iowa. The report shall describe the 4 grantees and the activities implemented, along with measurable 5 outcomes as determined by the council in consultation with the 6 director of the department of health and human services. At a 7 minimum, the report shall include information about the number 8 of individuals who received information or treatment, the 9 outcomes individuals achieved and demographic information about 10 the individuals participating in the project; an assessment of 11 the progress toward achieving statewide access to qualified 12 providers and comprehensive treatment and recovery services; 13 and an update on the evaluations implemented by the director of 14 the department of health and human services for the promising 15 practices and theory-based projects that receive funding. 16 2. The director of the department of health and human 17 services, in consultation with the opioid epidemic response 18 advisory council, shall report to the general assembly when 19 an evaluation described in section 123B.1, subsection 4, is 20 complete. The report shall include demographic information; 21 outcome information for the individuals in the program; the 22 results of the program in promoting recovery, employment, and 23 family reunification; reducing involvement in the criminal 24 justice system; and other relevant outcomes. The report shall 25 include information about the ability of grant programs to be 26 scaled to achieve statewide results. 27 3. The opioid epidemic response advisory council, in 28 its annual report due by January 31, 2031, shall include 29 recommendations on whether appropriations and grants pursuant 30 to this chapter should be continued, adjusted, or discontinued, 31 whether funding should be appropriated for other purposes 32 related to opioid abuse prevention, and on the appropriate 33 level of funding for existing and new uses. 34 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 123B.4 Standing appropriation. 35 -5- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 5/ 7
H.F. 584 There is appropriated annually from the opioid settlement 1 fund created pursuant to section 12.51 to the department of 2 health and human services two hundred forty-nine thousand 3 dollars for the provision of administrative services to 4 the opioid epidemic response advisory council and for the 5 administration of grants awarded pursuant to section 123B.2. 6 Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 7 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 This bill relates to the opioid settlement fund and 12 establishes the opioid epidemic response advisory council 13 (advisory council). 14 The bill instructs the advisory council to focus on matters 15 relating to opioid addiction and overdoses, governmental 16 responses to opioid addiction and overdoses, and providing 17 metrics by which such responses can be measured. The bill 18 provides specific membership requirements for the advisory 19 council and requires the department of health and human 20 services (department) to provide staffing and administrative 21 support to the advisory council. 22 The bill requires the advisory council to identify projects 23 related to opioid addiction and overdoses that should be 24 awarded grants from the opioid settlement fund and opioid 25 settlement future fund. The general assembly shall then award 26 grants to the projects that address the priorities identified 27 in the bill. From among those projects awarded grants, the 28 bill requires the advisory council to identify projects that 29 include promising practices or theory-based activities for 30 which the director of the department shall conduct additional 31 research and experimental evaluation. 32 The bill requires the chairperson of the advisory council 33 to annually report to the general assembly regarding grants 34 proposed by the advisory council and awarded by the general 35 -6- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 6/ 7
H.F. 584 assembly and the advisory council and the director of the 1 department of management to annually report to the general 2 assembly regarding the efficacy of individual projects and the 3 progress made with respect to the benchmarks established by 4 the advisory council. The annual report due to be submitted 5 by the advisory council by January 31, 2031, shall include the 6 advisory councils recommendations regarding the continuation 7 of grants and appropriations from the opioid settlement fund. 8 The bill appropriates $249,000 to the department annually 9 from the opioid settlement fund for the provision of 10 administrative services to the advisory council and for the 11 administration of awarded grants. 12 The bill takes effect upon enactment. 13 -7- LSB 1327YH (4) 91 ss/ko 7/ 7