HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE April 29, 2024 4:50 p.m. 4:50:18 PM CALL TO ORDER Co-Chair Foster called the House Finance Committee meeting to order at 4:50 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Neal Foster, Co-Chair Representative DeLena Johnson, Co-Chair Representative Julie Coulombe Representative Mike Cronk Representative Alyse Galvin Representative Sara Hannan Representative Andy Josephson Representative Dan Ortiz Representative Will Stapp Representative Frank Tomaszewski MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Bryce Edgmon, Co-Chair ALSO PRESENT Courtney Enright, Legislative Liaison, Department of Health; Savaya Bieber, Staff, Representative DeLena Johnson. PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE Kelly Manning, Deputy Director, Division of Innovation and Education Excellence, Department of Education and Early Development. SUMMARY HB 202 OPIOID OVERDOSE DRUGS IN SCHOOLS CSHB 202(EDC) was REPORTED out of committee with eight "do pass" recommendations and with two "no recommendation" recommendations and with one new fiscal impact note from the Department of Health and one previously published fiscal impact note: FN1 (EED). HB 260 CATASTROPHIC ILLNESS/MEDICAL ASSISTANCE HB 260 was SCHEDULED but not HEARD. HB 307 INTEGRATED TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS HB 307 was SCHEDULED but not HEARD. Co-Chair Foster reviewed the meeting agenda. He set an amendment deadline for HB 122 of May 1, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. HOUSE BILL NO. 202 "An Act relating to the availability and administration of opioid overdose drugs in public schools." 4:52:30 PM Co-Chair Foster asked the sponsor to provide a quick summary of the bill. Co-Chair Johnson explained that the bill would require all school districts to make available at least two opioid overdose drug kits in each main school building. The bill would also ensure that at least one person who was trained to administer the overdose kit would be present during all hours the main school building was open. The Department of Health (DOH) would be required to provide each school district with the kit and the commissioner would provide a short video to each school district explaining how to administer the kit. 4:54:21 PM AT EASE 4:54:31 PM RECONVENED Co-Chair Foster noted that a representative from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) would be speaking to the fiscal note. 4:54:52 PM KELLY MANNING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND EDUCATION EXCELLENCE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT, JUNEAU (via teleconference), stated that DEED prepared one zero fiscal impact note with the control code UUmii. She explained that the reason for the zero fiscal impact was because the requirements for the department were already in place and it already had a course in the administration of Naloxone, which was the most common opioid overdose reversal drug. The course was developed in collaboration with DOH and was available online. She added that the other requirements would only impact DOH. 4:56:23 PM COURTNEY ENRIGHT, LEGISLATIVE LIAISON, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, reviewed the fiscal note by DOH with the control code OdJTe. She explained that the department projected that there would be a cost of about $67,800 in the first year of the bill's implementation to fund the necessary startup costs and $42,000 every following third year. Representative Hannan emphasized that she supported the bill and thought it was important to move it forward. She thought it appeared that DOH would provide supplies to schools beginning in FY 25 and it was not anticipated that the department would need to provide supplies again until the kits expired three years later. She asked if DOH was in a position to restock the supplies if a school used both doses of Naloxone. Ms. Enright responded that the department believed it would be able to restock when necessary. She explained that DOH contemplated whether to include the restocking costs in the fiscal note, but there were not enough data points to provide an accurate projection. Representative Hannan commented that she anticipated that the program would succeed. She did not think that the legislature should waiver from ensuring that doses of the reversal drugs were broadly available. The only way the bill would succeed was if it was broadly implemented. She thought that following initial implementation and training, there would be an increase in the use of Naloxone and a decrease in overdose deaths in the state. She stressed that the cost of the reversal drug would result in saving lives. Co-Chair Foster appreciated the bill and relayed there were some villages in the state that might have Naloxone available in health clinics, but other villages might not have it available. The bill might be the only source for the lifesaving aid in an entire village. 4:59:21 PM Representative Galvin indicated that she was concerned that there would only be two doses per school. She understood that when a drug infiltrated a village, it became an epidemic. She recalled that there were four fentanyl overdoses in a single school in Anchorage. She asked how the decision was made to provide two doses. Ms. Enright replied that the bill specified that there would be two doses per school. Representative Galvin asked if there was any data that suggested that it would make sense to provide more than two doses. Co-Chair Johnson noted that although the bill indicated that there would be two doses in each school, there would actually be four doses. She stated that the information needed to be updated. Representative Galvin understood that there would actually be four doses provided to each school as opposed to the two doses stated in the bill. Co-Chair Johnson responded that there needed to be an amendment to increase the number to four, but that the fiscal note reflected the cost of providing four doses. Representative Tomaszewski asked about the fiscal note from DEED, which stated that all school bus drivers were required to be trained to administer Naloxone. He asked if there would be doses on each bus. Co-Chair Johnson replied that the bill needed to be updated because the school bus driver requirement was removed from the bill in the House Education Committee. She explained that Naloxone was not necessarily effective after it had been frozen and school buses were often cold. SAVAYA BIEBER, STAFF, CO-CHAIR DELENA JOHNSON, explained that the fiscal note reflected the cost of two overdose kits and there were two doses of Naloxone in each overdose kit, meaning there were four doses altogether. Representative Ortiz asked if there had been public testimony on the bill. Co-Chair Foster responded in the affirmative. 5:03:51 PM Representative Stapp MOVED to REPORT CSHB 202(EDC) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. CSHB 202(EDC) was REPORTED out of committee with eight "do pass" recommendations and with two "no recommendation" recommendations and with one new fiscal impact note from the Department of Health and one previously published fiscal impact note: FN1 (EED). 5:04:33 PM Co-Chair Foster explained that the meeting would be recessed until 9:00 a.m. on April 30, 2024. He reviewed the agenda for the morning meeting. ADJOURNMENT 5:05:34 PM The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.