The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) has agreed to markup legislation for the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act. Chair of the committee Senator Bernie Sanders [I-Vt] and Ranking Member Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) have announced that there will be a vote on the SUPPORT Act this Tuesday, December 12th, at 10:00 AM EST.
Why is this important?
Sen. Cassidy included the FASD Respect Act language in his markup of the SUPPORT Act, which has been included in the version of the bill that is to be voted on by the HELP Committee tomorrow. You can view the full bill text here, where you will find the FASD Respect Act language in Section 110. The markup hearing can be viewed live tomorrow, December 12th at 10:00 AM here.
If the HELP Committee votes in favor of the SUPPORT Act as presented to them it will then be sent to the full Senate for a vote. After passing through the full Senate, the bill will need to enter into conference. During conference, members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate will work together to negotiate a compromise between the bill that passed in the House and the bill that passed in the Senate. This is important in this case because the version of the SUPPORT Act that passed in the House did NOT include the FASD Respect Act, while the version of the SUPPORT Act that is going through the Senate does include the FASD Respect Act.
While tomorrow will not definitively tell us if the FASD Respect Act will become law, it is a huge step toward that goal. Inclusion in a bill like the SUPPORT Act, which is a high-priority bill for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, gives us a fantastic chance of seeing the FASD Respect Act made into law.
Is our job done?
Not yet! It is still important to spread awareness of S.1800/HR.3946, the FASD Respect Act by reaching out to your two Senators and your Representative. Members of the FASD United Policy team would love to help in any way we can, and you can email melfi@fasdunited.org to learn more.
Links
Full Bill Text (FASD Respect Act Language found in section 110 on page 12)
