Thursday, March 19, 2015

2015 Utah Legislative Review



2015 Utah Legislative Review

Healthy Utah/Medicaid expansion
As you are aware by now, Healthy Utah (Utah’s version of Medicaid expansion) passed the Senate but it failed in the House. On the last day of the legislative session, a special committee was created, made up of Governor Herbert, Lt. Governor Cox, Senate President Niederhauser, Speaker Hughes, Senator Shiozawa, and Representative Dunnigan. They studied the Medicaid expansion plan over the coming months and will have an agreed upon solution by July 31st with a special session to happen shortly after. So stay tuned!

Criminal Justice Reform
The Criminal Justice Reform legislation was an outcome of the policy recommendations of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ). House Bill 348 is a massive piece of legislation with positive implications for the reform of the criminal justice system. There are a number of improvements regarding the treatment of inmates that have a mental illness and alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders with a mental health condition and/or substance use disorders. The bill also requires the Department of Corrections and the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to track performance and outcomes, establish standards for mental health and substance abuse treatment, and analyze specified programs, among other administrative requirements. Almost $12 million was allocated to help HB348’s policy changes. But the most important change that still needs to happen is to expand Medicaid in Utah for proper mental health and substance use disorder treatment.

Suicide Prevention Legislation
House Bill 209 mandates that certain behavioral health professionals must complete a minimum of two hours of suicide prevention training in order to obtain or renew a license. This does not apply to all behavioral health professionals or physicians.
House Bill 364 provides additional funding for suicide prevention and anti-bullying programs to the Utah State Board of Education and to the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

School Safety & Crisis Line
Senate Bill 175 will improve behavioral health services in our state. This bill provides funding for a statewide crisis text line service focused at youth who face bullying, abuse, and/or suicidal thoughts. Also, it will handle tips concerning threats of violence or criminal activities related to schools.

We recommend reading the Disability Law Center legislative wrap-up and ACLU Utah’s blog entries on Criminal Justice Reform.