Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act of 2015
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act of 2015
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force to develop and study best practices for pain management and prescription of pain medication.
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend through FY2020 the controlled substance monitoring program.
Government entities receiving nonidentifiable information from a controlled substance monitoring database for research purposes may make that information available to other entities for research purposes.
A state receiving a grant for a controlled substance monitoring program must: (1) facilitate prescriber and dispenser use of the state's controlled substance monitoring system, and (2) educate prescribers and dispensers on the benefits of the system. This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through FY2020.
HHS must advance education and awareness of the risk of abuse of prescription opioids (drugs with effects similar to opium).
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in coordination with HHS and the DEA, must establish a national drug awareness campaign that emphasizes the similarities between heroin and prescription opioids.
The DEA, in coordination with HHS and ONDCP, may make grants to state, local, or tribal governments to create demonstration programs to allow first responders to prevent opioid overdose death by administering an opioid overdose reversal drug (e.g., naloxone).
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 17, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 9, 2015: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Susan Brooks (R-IN) introduced it on June 17, 2015, and 46 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 20 Democrats, 26 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 17, 2015, 4103 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4081 days ago, on July 9, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers