Special Session for Nov. 18 Called to Address Substance Abuse

At Gov. Maggie Hassan’s request, the Executive Council voted today to call for a special session later this month to have legislative leaders tackle comprehensive substance abuse legislation to combat the state’s growing heroin and opiate epidemic while legislative leaders countered that her budget veto earlier this year caused delays to tackle the problem.

In a statement, Hassan said the bipartisan vote of support from the council for a Nov. 18, 2015, session “proves that combating the substance abuse crisis and saving lives transcends politics.” Hassan added that there was “significant support” for many of the provisions that she had proposed “that will support law enforcement, improve prevention, treatment, and recovery, and strengthen our efforts to help save lives and combat this urgent crisis that is devastating families and communities across the state.”

The legislation includes ensuring that those who deal in fentanyl have the same sentences are heroin dealers; streamlining access to treatment; improved warnings and dosage limits for prescribers of opioids; and better interaction with the state’s department of heath with law enforcement officials.

The governor also wants millions of dollars of grants to be issued for drug courts, to the department of safety – to increase enforcement and forensic lab work – as well as for corrections and treatment.

State Senate Minority Leader Jeff Woodburn agreed with Hassan’s call, saying that legislators couldn’t wait until next year to address the issue.

“With our citizens dying nearly every day from the substance abuse crisis facing our state, we need to take action now,” he said. “There is already strong bipartisan support for many of the solutions the Governor has put forward to start reversing the tide of heroin and opioid abuse and I’m hopeful that working together across party lines we can help saves lives by passing comprehensive substance abuse legislation now.”

Other legislative leaders, however, including Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, House Speaker Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, Senate Finance Chairwoma Jeanie Forrester, R-Meredith, and House Finance Chairman Neal Kurk, R-Weare, called for “an inclusive, open, and transparent deliberative process” in order to “take steps to ensure that a special session includes ample public and expert input, debate, and inclusive review, in order to develop the best possible legislation to deal with these issues in a responsible, comprehensive manner,” according to Morse.

Jasper stated that leaders had already told Hassan that they intended to deal with the crisis in January and he was “disappointed that she has taken this step to bring the entire legislature back to Concord in an attempt to try and hastily push through a solution.” He added that all involved needed to work through the process in a fair and open manner.

“A solution to this problem is not something that will be accomplished in one day or even one week,” he added.” I anticipate the first day will involve adopting rules to allow us to move forward with legislation. At the end of the day, our goal is to do what is right for the people of this state.”

Forrester stated that she and others fought to increase by 75 percent substance abuse resources that were delayed because the governor vetoed the budget. She added that she and others were committed to combating the epidemic.

“We need answers on what we are doing today to combat substance abuse issues and a clearer picture of where we are financially and we look forward to the governor’s response,” she added.

“We need time to work on these bills appropriately, and, as the governor is aware, we have already dealt with many of these issues in the budget,” said Kurk. “The state has to be prudent in making sure that all of the services we already increased funding for are actually being provided to our citizens before we consider new spending. Had the Governor not vetoed the budget, we could have realized benefits of the increased funding months sooner. It is our duty as legislators to do a thorough job on this very important issue, but also in the context of how each proposal affects state finances.”