Two Illinois lawmakers plan to propose bipartisan legislation Monday to combat growing heroin and prescription drug abuse, though they acknowledge it may be tough to pass in a difficult budget year.

The 240-page bill, sponsored by House Democratic Assistant Majority Leader Lou Lang and GOP State Rep. John Anthony, is a byproduct of legislative task force that traveled around the state over recent months to hear testimony from doctors, coroners, pharmacists, treatment centers, addicts and family members on heroin use and its correlation to prescription drug abuse.

The legislation, the details of which Lang shared with The Associated Press in advance of its filing, would require drugs combating heroin overdoses, such as Narcan, to be dispensed more widely to those who have been trained to properly administer them.

Currently, some police units carry the antidotes, but the legislation would require all state and local government agencies that employ law enforcement officers and firefighters to possess them. School officials and family members of addicts could also administer the drugs, if they received proper training. CBS Chicago has the story.

Budget – Illinois’ “Net Deficit”

·         New report shows cumulative State deficit of $47.8 billion.  This cumulative deficit of almost $48 billion (nearly $4,000 per Illinois resident) comes from the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for FY 2013, released by Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and the Statewide Financial Statement Audit released by Auditor General Bill Holland.  The purpose of the figures presented in the CAFR are to drill past the cash-flow situation of the State of Illinois (which is what the “official” State budget looks at) and uncover the gap between resources available and commitments made. 

The majority of the gap consists of pension obligations and commitments to pay health-care-related expenses to providers of services to eligible patients, primarily Medicaid patients and State workers.  This number is not a one-year deficit, but a representation, on a balance-sheet basis, of the cumulative deficit that has been building up over a multi-year period.  Almost two-thirds of the deficit has appeared during the past seven years ($18.7 billion in FY06 to $47.8 billion in FY13), roughly coinciding with the tenure of Gov. Pat Quinn.