GREATER Communities Act

Bill: 116-hr-8386
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Lamb, Conor [D-PA-17]
Introduced: 2020-09-24
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Drug trafficking and controlled substances

Drug, alcohol, tobacco use

Health care coverage and access

Health information and medical records

Health programs administration and funding

Health promotion and preventive care

Law enforcement administration and funding

Rural conditions and development
Latest action: action_date: 2020-09-24
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-09-24
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Grants for Rural Efforts to Address Treatment and Ensure Recovery in Communities Act of 2020 or the GREATER Communities Act</b></p> <p>This bill expands efforts to address opioid use in rural areas, including by authorizing the Department of Justice to award grants for pilot programs to provide alternatives to incarceration and reduce opioid overdose deaths.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8386 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 24, 2020 Mr. Lamb (for himself and Mr. Weber of Texas ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide for the eligibility of rural community response pilot programs for funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Grants for Rural Efforts to Address Treatment and Ensure Recovery in Communities Act of 2020 or as the GREATER Communities Act . 2. Eligibility of rural community response pilot programs for funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program Section 3021 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10701 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(1)— (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking and ; (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (H) a pilot program for rural areas to implement community response programs that focus on presenting alternatives to incarceration and reducing opioid overdose deaths, as described in subsection (f). ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (f) Rural pilot program The pilot program described under this subsection shall make grants to rural areas to implement community response programs to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Grants issued under this subsection shall be jointly operated by local law enforcement and public health agencies or public safety, public health, and behavioral health collaborations. A community response program under this subsection shall identify gaps in community prevention, treatment, and recovery services for individuals who encounter the criminal justice system and shall establish treatment protocols to address identified shortcomings. The Attorney General, through the Office of Justice Programs, shall increase the amount provided as a grant under this section for a pilot program by no more than five percent for each of the two years following certification by the Attorney General of the submission of data by the rural area on the prescribing of schedules II, III, and IV controlled substances to a prescription drug monitoring program, or any other centralized database administered by an authorized State agency, which includes tracking the dispensation of such substances, and providing for interoperability and data sharing with each other such program (including an electronic health records system) in each other State, and with any interstate entity that shares information between such programs. . 3. Provision regarding certain funding level for rural communities Section 3024 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10704 ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1) by striking and at the end; (2) in paragraph (2)(C) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (3) provides that no less than 10 percent of grants issued pursuant to this part shall be awarded to rural areas. . 4. Definition Section 3025 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10705 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (9) The term rural area have the meanings given such terms in section 343(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act ( 7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)(A) ). .