Governor Walker was in Eau Claire on Monday, April 7, to sign Assembly Bill 445 into law as Act 199.  AB 445 was part of a package of bills the Legislature passed earlier this year that address Wisconsin's heroin problem.  This legislation was spearheaded by my colleague Rep. John Nygren of Marinette and supported by a bipartisan coalition of representatives and senators.  All seven bills passed both houses unanimously, and I was happy to join Representative Nygren, as well as Rep. Warren Petryk and Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, at the AB 445 bill signing ceremony.

AB 445/Act 199 generally requires an ID to obtain certain Schedule II and III controlled substances from pharmacies.  AB 446/Act 200 address the use of "opioid antagonists" by EMTs or other parties at the scene of a heroin overdose.  AB 447/Act 194 grants immunity from certain criminal prosecutions to individuals who help an overdose case get medical assistance.  AB 448/Act 198 expands the availability of drug disposal programs.  AB 668/Act 197 increases funding for grants to county treatment and diversion programs.  AB 701/Act 195 requires the Department of Health Services to establish regional comprehensive opioid treatment programs to serve rural and high-need areas around the state.  AB 702/Act 196 requires the Department of Corrections to establish a system of short-term sanctions for parolees or probationers who violate certain terms of their release; this would be as an alternative to simply locking them up, which does not necessarily address the underlying chemical dependence issues.

Now that the Legislature has concluded its 2013-2014 session, the Governor will be signing many more bills into law in the coming weeks.  I am happy to say that among those bills will be AB 17 and AB 429, both of which I introduced, and Senate Bill 250, a bill introduced by Sen. Terry Moulton on which I was the lead Assembly cosponsor.