Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.
It’s been no easy task to get any fentanyl-related legislation through key committees in the legislature this year, but there’s a new proposal up for debate — and it’s got a hefty price tag.
Dubbed the “Fighting Fentanyl Bond,” a $5.2 billion bond measure is meant to fund treatment, preventative and educational programs. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Public Safety Committee, says the idea is to have a “comprehensive approach to the fentanyl crisis.”
“Avoiding the greater aspects of this problem, including the demand side and lack of treatment and education, has exacerbated the matter,” Jones-Sawyer said.
The bond, co-authored by Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, would allocate $2 billion to various treatment programs for those struggling with substance abuse and another $2 billion to expand educational programs for youth on recreational drug use as well as treatment and support services in schools.
Additionally, $500 million would be dedicated to services involving high-level drug traffickers, such as housing and treatment opportunities for people transitioning out of the justice system and substance use treatments in prisons and juvenile facilities, according to Jones-Sawyer’s office.
Harm reduction services would get $400 million, programs expanding access to fentanyl test kits and safe use supplies would see $200 million and $100 million would be dedicated to research on emerging drugs.
Should the bill pass the legislature and get Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval, it would be up to voters to give it the final OK.
And for Assemblymember Diane Dixon, that’s a big ask of voters.
“It’s a recipe for financial disaster without any prescription for program…
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