R 354
2021 -- H 5471 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 AN HOSPITALS

Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, McGaw, Cassar, and Casimiro

Date Introduced: February 10, 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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LC000693/SUB A
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