House Energy and Commerce Committee Approves Addiction and
Mental Health Parity Legislation; Vote by the Full House Expected in the Coming Weeks
On October 16th, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental
Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007.” The legislation was approved by a 32 to 13 vote; present Democratic Committee
members voted with Representatives John Shimkus (R-IL), Charles Pickering (R-MS), Mary Bono (R-CA), Lee Terry (R-NE), and Timothy Murphy (R-PA) to
approve H.R. 1424. The Energy and Commerce Committee is the last House Committee with jurisdiction over H.R. 1424 to review the
bill. Prior to approval by the Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Education and Labor, and Ways and Means Committees also
approved the legislation.
During the Energy and Commerce mark-up session, a number of amendments to the legislation were offered, but none
succeeded. Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) offered an amendment to substitute the Senate parity bill, S. 558, for H.R. 1424,
but this amendment also failed on a 21 to 33 vote. Committee Chairman John Dingell (R-MI) did agree to work with the sponsors of
three amendments to reflect their concerns in legislative report language. These amendments sought to:
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Assert that the legislation’s inclusion of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV) conditions and disorders should not be considered as establishing any disorder or condition as a disability under federal or state law,
including the Americans with Disabilities Act, or as restricting the application of any employee substance abuse policy
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Require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to evaluate the selection process for inclusion of conditions and
disorders in the DSM-IV to determine whether the process is scientifically objective and unbiased, based on valid medical evidence, and that it does
not pose a conflict of interest
Additional amendments to H.R. 1424 that were rejected by the Committee would have:
The full House is expected to consider H.R. 1424 in the coming weeks; prior to a House vote, the House Budget
Committee will decide how to offset the costs of the legislation. Under new “pay-as-you-go” budget rules adopted by
the Congress this session, in order to spend money for new expenditures or tax cuts, Congress must offset the spending increase by cutting other
spending or increasing taxes. In addition, the House Rules Committee will meet to reconcile differences between the versions of
H.R. 1424 approved by the three House Committees. Following a House vote, the significant differences between H.R. 1424 and S.
558, approved by the Senate in September, must be resolved before the bill can be sent to the President to be signed into law.
The text of the H.R. 1424 approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee can be found at: http://energycommerce.house.gov/cmte_mtgs/FC101607MU/h1424_com_xml.pdf.
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Senate Approves Department of Justice Funding
Bill
On October 16th, the Senate reviewed and approved its FY 2008 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) funding bill.
The full House approved its own FY 2008 CJS spending bill in July. These funding bills include a number of programs in the
Department of Justice (DOJ) that serve people with drug and alcohol histories and people with criminal records. Under the Senate- and House-approved
bills, these programs would receive the following funding levels:
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The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, which helps states and localities
to develop and implement residential substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional and detention facilities, would receive $10
million under the Senate- and House-approved bills, $2 million more than last year’s funding.
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The Drug Court Program, which provides financial and technical assistance to state and local
governments and courts to develop and implement treatment drug courts, would receive $40 million under both the Senate- and House-approved bills.
This recommendation would represent an increase of $30 million over last year’s funding.
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The Mentally Ill Offender Act, which grants resources to states and local areas to foster collaborations
within the criminal and juvenile system for nonviolent adults or juveniles who have a mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use
disorder and face criminal charges that are the product of the person’s illness, would receive $10 million under the House- and Senate-approved
bills, a $5 million increase from last year’s funding.
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The Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program, which helps states to develop comprehensive and
coordinated initiatives to enforce state laws that prohibit underage drinking, would receive $25 million under both the House- and Senate-approved
bills, level to last year’s funding.
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The Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program, which funds programs providing a number of different
prevention, education, community corrections and drug treatment services, would receive $660 million under the Senate-approved bill, a $140 million
increase over last year’s funding, and $600 million under the House approved bill, an $80 million increase.
Now that both bodies have approved their DOJ funding bills, a conference committee will likely convene to iron
out funding differences between the Senate and House bills. Additional information about the FY 2008 funding process for programs in the Department
of Justice can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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Legislation to Reduce the Number of Unaccompanied and
Homeless Youth Introduced in the House; Bill Includes Provisions for Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Treatment and Services for Youth Reentering from
Incarceration
On August 3rd, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) introduced H.R. 3409, the “Place to Call Home
Act.” H.R. 3409 seeks to create the conditions, structures, and supports needed to prevent and end unaccompanied youth situations.
It is estimated that there are between two and three million homeless youth in this country. H.R. 3409 intends to prevent
unaccompanied situations among youth by, among other things: (1) reducing family stressors, (2) ensuring equal protection of youth in the child
welfare system, and (3) reducing the number of juveniles discharged from an institution into homelessness. Specifically, the bill seeks to reduce
family stressors that contribute to the high numbers of unaccompanied juveniles by increasing funding for substance use disorder and mental health
treatment, and funding child abuse prevention and treatment programs.
H.R. 3409 contains a number of provisions related to improving funding and coordination of drug and alcohol
prevention and treatment services. The legislation would authorize increased funding for a number of substance abuse prevention
and addiction treatment programs, including $2.5 billion for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Performance Partnership Block Grant for each of
the 2008 through 2012 fiscal years. In addition, H.R. 3409 would require increased collaboration between the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to develop programs that prevent alcohol and
drug abuse and addiction among children and families in the child welfare system, as well as runaway, homeless, and street youth and their families.
H.R. 3409 would also require that health facilities receiving public funds, including residential treatment or rehabilitation facilities, ensure that
individuals under the age of 25 are furnished with a discharge plan and placed in a permanent living arrangement upon release.
H.R. 3409 would authorize a $200 million Department of Justice grant program aimed at helping youth reenter from
incarceration. Under the grant program, State grantees would:
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Identify incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities who are likely to be released before the age of 25 and help
them make the transition to self-sufficiency by providing pre-release services such as discharge planning and re-entry planning, substance use
disorder prevention services, mental health counseling, and preventive health activities, as well as assistance in applying for income assistance and
health insurance for which the individual may be eligible and
H.R. 3409 would also authorize a $60 million State educational and training program for incarcerated youth who wish
to obtain higher education.
H.R. 3409 also has a number of provisions on public housing policies for people with criminal
records. In federally assisted housing lease agreements, H.R. 3409 would require that owners include provisions protecting
household members from being evicted or receiving other penalties should a tenant in that household be evicted due to criminal activity.
H.R. 3409 would also:
After its introduction, H.R. 3409 was referred to the House Education and Labor, Ways and Means, Energy and
Commerce, Financial Services, and Judiciary Committees. The bill currently has sixteen Democratic co-sponsors.
The full text and status of H.R. 3409 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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Legislation Seeking to Regulate Online Pharmacies and Curb
Prescription Drug Misuse Approved by Senate Committee
On September 27th, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 980, the “Online Pharmacy Consumer
Protection Act of 2007.” Introduced in March 2007 by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the legislation seeks to impose
registration and reporting requirements on pharmacies that deliver controlled substances via the Internet. In her comments on the
bill’s introduction, Senator Feinstein expressed particular concern with the growing problem of prescription drug abuse and
addiction.
To address the problem of unlicensed pharmacies distributing medicine via the Internet, S. 980 would establish
licensing and disclosure requirements for online pharmacies. Each pharmacy would need to comply with State licensing requirements
both in the State from which it operates, and each State to which it delivers, distributes, or dispenses medications. No pharmacy
could receive such licensing without requiring a valid prescription prior to any delivery or distribution of a controlled
substance. A valid prescription is defined as a prescription issued for a legitimate medical purpose as a result of a
medical relationship with a medical practitioner.
In addition to licensing requirements, S. 980 would require each online pharmacy to post on the homepage of the
site, or on a directly linked page, the pharmacy owner’s name, the street address of the principle place of business, a telephone number, and
an email address for the pharmacy. The website would also need to list the States in which it, and any affiliate pharmacies are
licensed to distribute prescription drugs, and the applicable license numbers. Pharmacies with practitioners providing medical
consultations would need to list the name, address, professional degree, and licensure of those practitioners. Finally, the online
pharmacy would need to display a statement approved by the Attorney General stating that the pharmacy only provides medications pursuant to valid
prescriptions and that the pharmacy complies the Controlled Substances Act.
S. 980 would also amend the Controlled Substances Act by clarifying that there will be criminal and civil
penalties for online pharmacies not in compliance with licensing and disclosure requirements. Any non-compliant online pharmacist
found to be distributing Schedule III drugs, or drugs with a moderate potential for use with an accepted medical purpose, which might lead to
physical or psychological dependence, could receive up to ten years in prison. If a death or serious bodily injury resulted from
the use of a distributed substance, a pharmacist could receive an imprisonment of not more than twenty years and a fine of $500,000 as an individual,
or $2.5 million if the defendant is other than an individual. Any person committing such a violation after a prior conviction for a
felony drug offense would receive twice the penalty. Any sentence under this Act would require at least two years of supervised
release in addition to imprisonment.
In addition to criminal penalties, the State would be able to sue the online pharmacy in civil court on behalf
of any person injured or threatened by the pharmacy. The federal government would retain a right to intervene as a party in any
action filed by a state against an online pharmacy. State attorneys general would be able to enjoin nationwide activities by the
pharmacy in question. No private right of action would be established by S. 980.
It is unclear when the full Senate may consider this legislation; no similar legislation has been introduced in
the House. Co-sponsors of S. 980 include Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Jeff
Sessions (R-AL). The text of S. 980 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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