BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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S.77 1
Introduced by Senators Lyons, Gulick and Harrison 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Human services; opioid use disorder; Opioid Abatement Special 5
Fund; expenditures 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to appropriate 7
funds from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund for use in fiscal year 2026. 8
An act relating to fiscal year 2026 appropriations from the Opioid 9
Abatement Special Fund 10
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
Sec. 1. APPROPRIATIONS; OPIOID ABATEMENT SPECIAL FUND 12
(a) In fiscal year 2026, the following sums shall be appropriated from the 13
Opioid Abatement Special Fund established in 18 V.S.A. § 4774: 14
(1)(A) $1,976,000.00 to the Department of Health to fund 26 outreach 15
or case management staff positions within the preferred provider network for 16
the provision of services that increase motivation of and engagement with 17
individuals with substance use disorder in settings such as police barracks, 18
shelters, social service organizations, and elsewhere in the community. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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(B) It is the intent of the General Assembly that these positions shall 1
be funded annually by the Opioid Abatement Special Fund unless and until the 2
Special Fund does not have sufficient monies to fund this expenditure. 3
(2)(A) $1,100,000.00 to the Department of Health for the purpose of 4
awarding grants to the City of Burlington for establishing an overdose 5
prevention center upon submission of a grant proposal that has been approved 6
by the Burlington City Council and meets the requirements of 18 V.S.A. 7
§ 4256, including the guidelines developed by the Department of Health. 8
(B) It is the intent of the General Assembly to continue to appropriate 9
funds from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund through fiscal year 2028 for 10
the purpose of awarding grants to the City of Burlington for the operation of 11
the overdose prevention center, unless and until the Special Fund does not have 12
sufficient monies to fund this expenditure. 13
(3)(A) $1,200,000.00 to the Department of Health for recovery 14
residences certified by the Vermont Alliance for Recovery Residences, 15
including at least two new recovery residences certified by the Vermont 16
Alliance for Recovery Residences. 17
(B) It is the intent of the General Assembly that recovery residences 18
be funded annually at not less than fiscal year 2025 levels, unless and until the 19
Special Fund does not have sufficient monies to fund this expenditure. 20
(4)(A) $1,050,000.00 to the Department of Health for syringe services. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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(B) It is the intent of the General Assembly that syringe services be 1
funded annually at not less than fiscal year 2025 levels, unless and until the 2
Special Fund does not have sufficient monies to fund this expenditure. 3
(5) $800,000.00 to the Department of Health for grants to providers for 4
ongoing support for contingency management. 5
(6) $32,157.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to the 6
Brattleboro Fire Department to establish community training programs on the 7
administration of opioid antagonists, CPR, first aid, and Stop the Bleed 8
protocols. 9
(7) $44,229.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to the 10
Champlain Housing Trust to continue a pilot program providing access to 11
wound care and preventative health care in three low-barrier shelters within 12
Chittenden County. 13
(8) $800,000.00 to the Department for Children and Families’ Office of 14
Economic Opportunity to support long-term programs at shelters for 15
individuals experiencing homelessness, including harm-reduction supports and 16
clinical nursing programs. 17
(9) $309,000.00 to the Department of Health for HCRS’ Project 18
Connectionworks to reduce opioid use disorder morbidity and mortality in 19
Windham County through prevention, treatment, and recovery services. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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(10) $35,000.00 to the Department of Corrections for distribution to 1
Pathways Vermont to implement a contingency management pilot program in 2
Chittenden County for individuals under the supervision of the Department of 3
Corrections. 4
(11) $50,0000.00 to the Judicial Branch to train Vermont’s judges on 5
issues related to opioid use disorder and strategies for use in dockets statewide. 6
(12) $76,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 7
Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform to fund an outreach worker position. 8
(13) $200,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to Elevate 9
Youth Services to establish Healthy Youth Program counselors at the 10
Basement Teen Center at Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Washington County. 11
(14) $100,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to Friends 12
for Change’s Youth Center for the purpose of delivering intervention strategies 13
and harm reduction supports to youth and young adults. 14
(15) $170,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 15
Spectrum Youth and Family Services for two new positions to expand opioid 16
use disorder screening, treatment, and case management services to youth in 17
Chittenden and Franklin Counties. 18
(16) $80,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to Prevent 19
Child Abuse Vermont for the purpose of teaching parenting skills and 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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providing social and emotional parenting supports for individuals with opioid 1
use disorder. 2
(17) $850,000.00 to the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and 3
Independent Living for distribution to HireAbility Vermont to provide 4
specialized employment services for individuals with opioid use disorder in 5
Burlington, Newport, Rutland, and Bennington. 6
(18) $550,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 7
Northeast Kingdom Community Action to hire four peer support specialists to 8
assist individuals with opioid use disorder who are transitioning out of 9
homelessness into safe, permanent housing. 10
(19) $150,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 11
Connecticut Valley Addiction Services, Inc. to expand opioid use treatment in 12
rural Windsor County. 13
(20) $300,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 14
Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform and the Johnson Health Center to 15
continue and improve the Managed Medical Response Partnership. 16
(21) $30,000.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 17
Treatment Associates of Washington County Mental Health to hire an 18
embedded recovery coach. 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.77
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(22) $20,824.00 to the Department of Health for distribution to 1
Umbrella to provide integrated services between domestic and sexual violence 2
providers and partners in recovery in northeastern Vermont. 3
(b) All grant agreements associated with funds appropriated pursuant to 4
this section shall require outcome and measurements data to be collected and 5
reported to the department issuing the grant. 6
Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 7
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 8