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Committee votes to move opioid fatality review duties from advisory board to Attorney General
Summary
Senate Bill 391 would repeal the opioid fatality review board and transfer its duties to the Attorney General's office; proponents said the board had not met since 2021 and moving duties would ensure statutory requirements are fulfilled. The committee approved the transfer on a 7-2 vote in committee.
Senator Bergstrom said Senate Bill 391 would repeal the opioid fatality review board and transfer its duties to the Attorney General's office, noting that the board “has not met since 2021.”
Bergstrom told the committee the board’s members had not been meeting and that transferring responsibilities to the Attorney General would let the work continue. He said half of the board's members were tied to the Attorney General’s office or appointed by it and that moving the statutory duty would place it where the work has effectively been done already.
Senator Stewart and other members asked whether funding that had accompanied the advisory board would follow the duties; Bergstrom said he was not aware of additional funding and that the Attorney General’s office was prepared to accept the responsibilities. Senator Nice asked about continued reporting requirements; Bergstrom pointed to statutory language in the committee substitute requiring annual reports to the governor, the president pro tempore and the Speaker of the House.
The committee recorded a roll-call vote on the bill. The transcript records the committee tally as 7 ayes and 2 nays; the chair declared the bill passed in committee and sent forward.
