Legislative Update: The General Court is very busy as crossover approaches and most bills of interest to us are moving in the direction we’d like. The following is the status of our priority 1 bills. 

HB 410 (relative to the licensing of alcohol and drug counselors) was sent to a second committee (Ways & Means) to address a license fee issue. The bill was passed by the full House March 3 and moves on to the Senate. 

HB 1493 (establishing a committee to study comprehensive mental health parity) was passed by the full House with a committee amendment that expands the scope of the committee's work to include substance use disorder parity. We worked with the sponsor on the amendment and look forward to working with the committee to evaluate and improve state parity laws.

HB 1664 (making appropriations reductions into he operating budget for fiscal year 2011 and relative to state revenues and expenditures), as introduced, makes significant cuts in the SFY 2011 across many program areas (children's services, education, developmental services, medical care), including a $1 million reduction to the Alcohol Fund. HB 1664 is apparently being held as a bill that could be used to address the need for the additional budget reductions in SFY 2010 and 2011 called for by Governor Lynch last week ($140 M). The House will have to act on HB 1664 by March 18th. 

HB 1689 (exempting certain non-regulatory boards, commissions, councils, advisory committees, and task forces from repeal on June 30, 2011), as amended, ensures that the Governor's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment is exempted from the automatic June 30, 2011 repeal. HB 1689 has passed the House and will move on to the Senate.

SB 331 (establishing a governor's commission task force on substance use disorder treatment for Medicaid eligible individuals) has passed the Senate and will move on to the House. 

SB 398 (relative to prohibited sales of alcoholic beverages). SB 398 passed the Senate with an amendment that we worked on collaboratively with the Liquor Commission, local coalitions, and the Lodging and Restaurant Association. As amended, SB 398 will reduce the penalty for prohibited sales of alcohol from a misdemeanor to a violation if the sale occurs in the context of a compliance check and is not made "knowingly."  

SB 475 (relative to alcoholic beverage advertising restrictions) repeals all restrictions on "happy hour" advertising and explicitly permits licensees to advertise liquor and beverage prices separately from other advertisements and promotions. We strongly oppose this bill because it will increase the amount of alcohol advertising to which underage youth are exposed and increases the risk of excess consumption by legal drinkers. The Commerce Committee will act on the bill today. After a full Senate vote, the bill will likely be referred to Senate Finance.