Senate committee passes SB709 with technical edits after Department of Health raises data-synchronization questions

The joint Senate committees on Health & Human Services and Judiciary voted to pass SB709 with technical amendments and a defective date, after hearing Department of Health officials say the agency already maintains a public behavioral-health dashboard but lacks some cross-agency data the bill would require.

The chair introduced SB709 as a measure "relating to mental health," and David Takenaka, administrator of the Adult Mental Division at the Department of Health, told the committee the department "stand[s] on our written testimony in support of the intent and provide comments." Takenaka said DOH currently reports much of the requested information on an existing site at bh808.hoy.gov but does not maintain every dataset other agencies hold.

The bill initially listed an appropriation line of $2,250,000 for data collection and publication; committee members asked whether sections establishing new data and training appropriations were necessary given DOH’s dashboard. Takenaka responded that the department "very much appreciates the appropriation amounts" but that some data gaps remain because the department does not control all sources. He said some counts provided by service providers show variation: "IHS had 9 granted in 2023 and 12 in 2024," and petition filings moved "from 14 to 9," which staff attributed in part to voluntary treatment uptake.

During decision making the chair recommended blanking the appropriation, adding technical amendments and a defective date of Dec. 31, 2050, to allow additional coordination in light of late DOH testimony. The committee adopted the recommendation.

What happens next: The measure was passed out of committee with amendments and will proceed to further consideration in the Legislature; committee members said they expect continued work to align the dashboard data and to clarify any needed funding before final passage.