House Appropriations hears H.660 on opioid-abatement allocations; vote delayed for fiscal details

Montpelier — The House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 26 heard H.660, a standalone bill that packages fiscal-year 2027 appropriations from the opioid abatement special fund and proposes shifting four prevention items into the state’s Substance Misuse Prevention Special Fund. Committee members praised the bill’s clarity but pressed sponsors for more fiscal detail and coordination with existing prevention programs; the committee deferred a final vote until the next morning.

Appropriations Committee leadership opened the session by noting the bill does not touch the general fund. "General fund is not involved, so that makes it easier for us," the chair said. Teresa Wood, chair of the House Human Services Committee, and Rep. Steady briefed Appropriations on the package, which reflects a blend of committee and Department of Health recommendations.

"We have some questions and concerns about that," Wood said when describing the committee’s decision to move four prevention items out of the opioid abatement fund and into the substance-misuse prevention fund (seeded by the cannabis excise tax). Wood said the department agreed the items are prevention-related but preferred to keep them in its proposed budget instead.

Representative Steady walked the committee…