HOPE Agenda Bills Signed
Governor
Walker signed eight of this session’s
Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education
(HOPE) Agenda bills into law at
locations across Wisconsin, making stops
in Marinette, Wausau, Eau Claire, and
Oconomowoc. Representative John Nygren
(R- Marinette) released the following
statement regarding the bill signings:
“I am proud that we are continuing to
work towards addressing our state’s
prescription opioid epidemic. This
devastating problem knows no boundaries;
everyone is affected by addiction in
some way, regardless of their
background. The legislation signed into
law today builds upon the foundation
we’ve laid with the HOPE Agenda over the
last three years.” Following today’s
bill signings, the HOPE Agenda consists
of 16 laws total. Seven of these laws
are from the 2013-14 legislative session
and nine are from this session. One
remaining HOPE bill from this session
will be signed into law at a later date
(Assembly Bill 657).
The following are short summaries
of each of the eight bills signed into
law:
Assembly Bill 364:
Changes the requirement for those who
dispense certain prescription drugs to
submit information to the PDMP from 7
days to 24 hours. It will also require a
practitioner to review a patient’s
record when initially prescribing a
monitored prescription drug (for
example, a Schedule II drug).
Assembly Bill 365:
States that when law enforcement
encounters an inappropriate use or an
infraction of the law concerning
scheduled drugs, they upload that
information into the PDMP and have the
PDMP notify the physician. There are
exceptions for on-going investigations.
Assembly Bill 366:
Gives the Department of Health Services
(DHS) oversight over the operation of
pain management clinics across the
state. The department’s oversight would
not be regulatory, but would be a way of
providing safeguards so “pill mills”
don’t pop up in our state.
Assembly Bill 367:
Requires methadone clinics to gather
data such as staffing ratios, the number
of patients receiving behavioral health
services with the medication, and
average mileage an individual is
traveling to come to a clinic. This
information will then be reported to DHS
on an annual basis to give public health
and treatment professionals a chance to
analyze outcome data.
Assembly Bill 658:
Criminalizes the use, possession,
manufacture, distribution, and
advertisement of any substance or device
that is intended to defraud, circumvent,
interfere with, or provide a substitute
for a bodily fluid in conjunction with a
lawfully administered drug test. Given
that many employers subject their
employees to lawfully administered drug
tests, this bill will help ensure that
people are not defrauding or interfering
with the test results.
Assembly Bill 659:
State regulations regarding opioid
treatment programs are much more
stringent than federal regulations. In
order to afford more people
accessibility to the treatment they
need, this bill streamlines Wisconsin’s
state regulations to align with federal
regulations. With these changes, more
Wisconsinites will be able to have
access to opioid treatment.
Assembly Bill 660:
Allows a number of medical-affiliated
boards under the Department of Safety
and Professional Services (DSPS) to
issue guidelines regarding best
practices in prescribing controlled
substances. These best practices will
help reduce instances of overprescribing
and, in turn, lessen prescription opioid
misuse, abuse, and addiction.
Assembly Bill 766:
Creates reporting requirements for the
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
The data collected will be reviewed and
evaluated by the Controlled Substances
Board (CSB) to determine the
effectiveness of the PDMP and to compare
actual outcomes with projected outcomes.
Congratulations Girl Scouts
