Joint Committee onMental Health and Substance Abuse

Committee Contact Info

Senate Information: Room 313A; State House; Boston, MA 02133; Tel:(617) 722-1410

House Information: Room 33; State House; Boston, MA 02133; Tel:(617) 722-2060

It shall be the duty of the committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse to consider all matters concerning behavioral health, drug detoxification, homeless mentally ill, Mental Health Department oversight, mental illness, mentally ill services and such other matters as may be referred.

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Senate Members

Joan B. Lovely

Senate Chair

Katherine Clark

Senate Vice Chair

Members

House Members

Elizabeth A. Malia

House Chair

Angelo M. Scaccia

House Vice Chair

Members

Date	Starts	Topics	Bills	Status	Location
Mar 28 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Completed	A-1
Apr 2 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Completed	A-1
May 14 2013	1:00 PM	Bill Hearing 1	Click to View List	Completed	B-1
Jun 11 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Confirmed	A-2
Sep 10 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Confirmed	A-1
Sep 24 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Confirmed	A-1
Oct 22 2013	1:00 PM	Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (no topics published)		Confirmed	A-1

Bill Num.	Title	Sponsor	Report Type

Bill Num.	Title	Sponsor	Arrived	Hearing Schedule
S.905	An Act requiring victims to be notified of certain hearings concerning the custodial status of individuals adjudged not guilty of a crime by reason of mental illness or after being found not competent to stand trial	Cynthia S. Creem	1/22/2013
H.1805	An Act relative to creating a community based flexible supports oversight commission	James J. O'Day	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
S.911	An Act regarding rights of persons receiving services from program or facilities of the Department of Mental Health	Patricia D. Jehlen	1/22/2013
H.1785	An Act relative to the location of methadone clinics	Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera	1/22/2013
H.1806	An Act regarding rights of persons receiving services from program or facilities of the Department of Mental Health	Denise Provost	1/22/2013
H.1812	An Act relative to providing appropriate medical care for persons in mental health facilities	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1811	An Act relative to services for persons with mental illness who are living with older family members or primary caretakers	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1816	An Act to provide services for medically ill and mentally ill persons	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1815	An Act to require equitable payment from the Commonwealth	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1808	An Act to improve access to the services of educational psychologists	John H. Rogers	1/22/2013
S.917	An Act relative to emergency scheduling of addictive substances by the Commissioner of Public Health	John F. Keenan	1/22/2013
S.903	An Act relative to juvenile mental health.	Gale D. Candaras	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1814	An Act relative to applications for temporary involuntary hospitalization	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013
H.1813	An Act relative to the civil commitment of mentally ill persons to Bridgewater State Hospital	Angelo M. Scaccia	1/22/2013
H.1789	An Act relative to mental health services in Massachusetts correctional institutions, houses of correction and jails	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
H.1790	An Act relative to the civil commitment of women for alcoholism and substance abuse to MCI Framingham	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
H.1809	An Act increasing public safety by increasing access to addiction treatment	Byron Rushing	1/22/2013
H.1791	An Act relative to juvenile mental health	Kay Khan	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1783	An Act to promote efficient access to mental health services	Ruth B. Balser	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1784	An Act regarding proportional payments of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project	Ruth B. Balser	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1792	An Act establishing assisted outpatient treatment	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
S.910	An Act regulating the siting of methadone treatment facilities.	John Hart, Jr.	1/22/2013
S.919	An Act relative to synthetic marijuana	Michael O. Moore	1/22/2013
S.904	An Act relative to acceptable health service training for psychologists	Cynthia S. Creem	1/22/2013
H.1802	An Act relative to the temporary release of persons under the care of the department of mental health	James R. Miceli	1/22/2013
H.1803	An Act relative to alcoholics and substance abusers	James R. Miceli	1/22/2013
S.921	An Act relative to the civil commitment for alcoholism or substance abuse at certain facilities	Karen E. Spilka	1/22/2013
H.1810	An Act relative to the treatment of prisoners.	Byron Rushing	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1787	An Act to increase mental health facilities for women in the Commonwealth	Linda Dorcena Forry	1/22/2013
H.1796	An Act relative to behavioral health managed care organizations	Elizabeth A. Malia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1797	An Act providing equitable access to behavioral health services for MassHealth consumers	Elizabeth A. Malia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1798	An Act relative to mental health and substance abuse clinics	Elizabeth A. Malia	1/22/2013	Scheduled For 5/14/2013 1:00:00 PM
H.1799	An Act to protect children's mental health services	Elizabeth A. Malia Jennifer L. Flanagan	1/22/2013
S.920	An Act to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services	Richard T. Moore	1/22/2013
H.1800	An Act relative to substance abuse treatment	Elizabeth A. Malia	1/22/2013
H.1818	An Act relative to Medicaid spending	Martin J. Walsh	1/22/2013
S.913	An Act relative to updating the definition of cocaine	Brian A. Joyce	1/22/2013
S.914	An Act relative to updating the drug class A schedule	Brian A. Joyce	1/22/2013
S.915	An Act relative to the definition of methylenedioxy methamphetamine	Brian A. Joyce	1/22/2013
S.916	An Act relative to the drug Salvinorin	Brian A. Joyce	1/22/2013
H.1793	An Act to increase access to mental health services	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
H.1794	An Act to ensure full and equal access to services from the Department of Mental Health for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and related conditions who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for the Department of Mental Health Services	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
S.906	An Act relative to assisted outpatient treatment	Kenneth J. Donnelly	1/22/2013
H.1795	An Act regarding mental health services for families and children engaged in services	Kay Khan	1/22/2013
S.912	Resolve to create a special commission to promote a recovery-focus in the mental health system	Patricia D. Jehlen	1/22/2013
S.909	An Act to ensure full and equal access to services from the Department of Mental Health for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and related conditions who otherwise meet the eligiblity criteria for DMH services	Jennifer L. Flanagan	1/22/2013
H.1804	An Act relative to the overuse of psychoactive drugs on the elderly	Shaunna O'Connell Patricia D. Jehlen	1/22/2013
S.907	An Act regulating the use of buprenorphine in opioid dependence treatment	Benjamin B. Downing	1/22/2013
H.1788	An Act relative to creating a difficult to manage unit within the Department of Mental Health	Patricia A. Haddad	1/22/2013
H.1786	An Act relative to regulating oxycodone	Robert F. Fennell	1/22/2013
H.1807	An Act to combat drug addiction among youth	Denise Provost	1/22/2013
H.1817	An Act Creating a special commission on applied behavior analysis	John W. Scibak	1/22/2013
S.918	An Act relative to the discharge of persons incompetent to stand trial	John F. Keenan	1/22/2013
S.922	An Act to criminalize the attempted production of Class B drugs.	Bruce E. Tarr	1/22/2013
S.923	An Act protecting minors from the harmful effects of marihuana	Bruce E. Tarr	1/22/2013
S.902	An Act recognizing dangerousness of retail drug offenses	William N. Brownsberger	1/22/2013
H.1801	An Act creating a community hospital in-patient psychiatric relief program (“chipp”)	Brian R. Mannal	1/22/2013

Committee Rules

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
JOINT COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Joan B. Lovely			Liz Malia
Senator			Representative
Senate Chair			House Chair
Room 313A			Room 33
(617) 722-1410			(617) 722-2060

COMMITTEE RULES FOR 2013-2014 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Hearings, meetings and executive sessions of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse (“Committee”) shall be conducted jointly by the House and Senate Chairpersons (“Chairs”). The Chairs will alternate which one of them will preside at each hearing, meeting or executive session; however, the Chairs may mutually agree to change the order.

In the absence of the Chairs, hearings or meetings shall be conducted jointly by the House and Senate Vice Chairpersons (“Vice Chairs”).

In the absence of the Chairs and Vice Chairs, hearings or meetings shall be conducted by a committee member of the majority party designated by the Chairs.

The Chairs shall schedule and have general supervision of all Committee hearings, meetings and executive sessions.

Committee members shall be furnished with notice of the date, time, place and agenda of hearings, meetings and executive session at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance. The forty eight (48) hour requirement shall be suspended by the Chairs in an emergency only after all reasonable efforts have been made to contact committee members.

Each bill assigned to the Committee shall be scheduled for a public hearing. The Chairs may use their discretion in scheduling the order of bills to be heard. The Chairs may mutually agree to discharge a bill initially referred to the Committee to another committee with jurisdiction over the bill.

Testimony before the Committee shall be accepted in written and/or oral form.

Persons testifying before the Committee shall provide the following information to the committee staff prior to testifying:

Bill number;
Position on the bill;
Name;
Title and Organization;
Mailing address;
Telephone number; and
Email address.

Legislators and other public officials wishing to testify on any matter before the Committee may be recognized by the presiding Chair and their testimony taken out of order.

The length of time for oral testimony of a witness shall be limited to three (3) minutes; additional time may be granted at the discretion of the presiding Chair.

Committee members may question witnesses only after they have been recognized by the presiding Chair for that purpose.

The presiding Chair may limit the time of questioning by each committee member after giving due consideration to the extent to which the committee member has already asked questions of the witness, the importance of the subject matter, the number of bills scheduled for hearing and the length of time available.

A Committee hearing may be recorded by a person in attendance by means of a recorder or any other means of audio/visual reproduction provided that a person seeking to record the hearing notifies the Chairs prior to commencing such recording; and provided further that during such recording there is no interference with the conduct of the hearing. Committee members shall be notified by the Chair before the start of the hearing that a recording device will be used.

All electronic devices are required to be turned off or silenced during hearings, meetings and executive sessions.

The Chairs are required to attend executive sessions and no executive session may be held in the absence of either Chair. This requirement may be waived by mutual agreement of the Chairs.

The Committee shall hold an executive session to take action on bills heard before the Committee. The Chairs, by mutual agreement, may poll the committee members instead of holding an executive session. Each committee member shall be polled in the manner prescribed by the Chairs to determine the Committee’s decision on the bill. Records of polls and executive session votes shall be kept in the office of the Committee and shall be available for public inspection upon reasonable notice and during regular office hours.

Executive sessions may be held regardless of the number of committee members present, subject to Committee Rule 15 and 16.

Executive sessions shall be open to the public unless the Committee, in accordance with Joint Rule 1A, votes to close the executive session.

Except for the committee members, no person shall address the Committee during an executive session unless requested to do so by the Chairs.

At an executive session, the presiding Chair shall announce the bill for consideration by number, title, and sponsor. The presiding Chair shall then make or request to be made a motion to take a particular action on the bill. Upon a second of the motion and discussion, a vote on the motion shall be taken. A majority vote of the committee members present shall constitute the decision of the Committee.

A committee member may be listed as “dissenting” on the report of the Committee provided that the committee member notifies the Chairs by 5:00 p.m. on the next business day following the vote on said bill.

A committee member may make a motion for reconsideration of an executive session decision. If the motion is not made during the executive session the committee member has until 5:00 p.m. on the next business day to notify the Chairs in writing. The motion shall be taken up at the next executive session. Only one motion for reconsideration shall be permitted for each bill.

The Chairs shall determine which branch a favorable committee report shall be filed in and shall designate the committee member, if other than a Chair, who will carry the report.

A copy of the committee rules shall be made available to the public by filing a copy with the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House and by retaining a copy at the office of the Committee.

The committee rules shall be adopted by a majority vote of those committee members present and voting.

Once adopted, the committee rules may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those committee members present and voting.

A committee rule may be suspended by a two-thirds vote of those committee members present and voting.

Joint Committee onMental Health and Substance Abuse

Committee Contact Info

Senate Members

Members

House Members

Members

Committee Rules

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
JOINT COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

COMMITTEE RULES FOR 2013-2014 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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