R 357 |
2021 -- S 0058 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/09/2021 |
J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N |
MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 IN RESTRICTED RECEIPT FUNDING IN THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS |
Introduced By: Senators Seveney, DiPalma, Lombardo, Sosnowski, Archambault, Acosta, and Anderson |
Date Introduced: January 19, 2021 |
WHEREAS, Over eighty-one thousand (81,000) drug overdose deaths occurred in the |
United States in the twelve (12) months ending in May, 2020, the highest number of overdose |
deaths ever recorded in a twelve (12)-month period; |
WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Health reported three hundred eighty-four |
(384) accidental drug overdose deaths in 2020, representing a jump of twenty-five percent (25%) |
over the prior year, to its highest level since records have been kept; |
WHEREAS, The misuse of and addiction to opioids -- including prescription pain |
relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl -- is a serious national crisis that affects |
public health as well as social and economic welfare; |
WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total |
"economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is seventy-eight |
billion five hundred million dollars ($78,500,000,000) a year, including the costs of healthcare, |
lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement; now, therefore be it |
RESOLVED, That the first five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in restricted receipt |
funding appropriated in the behavioral healthcare services program within the department of |
behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals for fiscal year 2022 shall be used |
to support the state's seven (7) regional substance abuse prevention coalitions. The funds shall be |
apportioned equally in the amount of seventy-one thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars |
($71,428) to each regional coalition. |
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LC000366/SUB A/2 |
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