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Senate Bill 1827 |
Senate Author: Huffman et al. |
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Effective: 6-16-21 |
House Sponsor: Holland |
Senate Bill 1827 amends the Government Code to establish the Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council to ensure that money recovered by the state through a statewide opioid settlement agreement is allocated fairly and spent to remediate the opioid crisis in Texas. Among other provisions, the bill creates the opioid abatement account in the general revenue fund for use as a funding source for applicable state agencies' efforts to abate opioid‑related harms and creates the opioid abatement trust fund outside of the state treasury for use in funding efforts to address opioid‑related harms in local communities, providing basic civil legal services to indigent persons directly impacted by opioid‑use disorders, and funding the council. The bill requires that 15 percent of the money obtained under a settlement agreement be deposited into the account and the remaining 85 percent be deposited into the trust fund. Implementation of a provision of the bill by the comptroller of public accounts is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.