The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted favorably to move MACo’s initiative bill SB 546 out of committee. The bill is expected to make its way to the Senate floor in the next couple of days.

One of MACo’s initiatives is to modernize and optimize several laws and programs to help counties combat the spiraling drug crisis. SB 546 and its cross-file HB 898 would help reduce the growing number of overdose deaths by providing civil immunity protections to properly trained law enforcement and first responders responding to a drug overdose call.

From MACo’s testimony:

Law enforcement or emergency medical services are often the first to arrive on the scene of a drug overdose. Therefore, strides have been made to train and equip law enforcement and first responders with naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses an opioid overdose by restoring the breathing of a person who has overdosed on heroin or prescription opioid such as oxycodone or morphine. SB 546 incorporates immunity protections for law enforcement and first responders trained and authorized to administer the medicine to an individual experiencing or believed to be experiencing a drug overdose.

The cross-file HB 898 was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, March 11.

For more on MACo’s 2015 legislation, visit the Legislative Database.