Two Senate bills focused on the behavioral health system and improving access to opioid overdose medication are up for public hearing this week.

SB 5157, sponsored by Sen. Keith Wagoner (R–Sedro-Woolley) and Sen. Manka Dhingra (D–Redmond), creates a Performance Measure Coordinating Committee that will track rates of arrest and incarceration of individuals with behavioral health conditions. A committee report is due to the Governor by December 1, 2021. Beginning July 1, 2022, the state will require behavioral health contractors to implement performance improvement projects to reduce their clients’ involvement with the criminal justice system.

SB 5195, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D–Lynnwood) and Sen. Ron Muzzall (R–Oak Harbor), increases the availability of opioid overdose reversal medication. Under the bill, individuals who arrive at the emergency room suffering from an opioid overdose will be prescribed an opioid overdose reversal medication as well as be referred to a substance use disorder peer specialist.

Dates to remember

SB 5157 and SB 5195 are scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee at 10:30 am on Friday, January 22.