Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, the chair of House Health Care, said the committee
hopes to pass all four bills before crossover — the mid-March deadline for the House and Senate to pass bills if they want the other chamber to consider them.
Lippert said the four mental health bills became priorities based on the input of committee members. He said “the whole system of mental health” has become a priority issue for the panel.
One bill, H.145, would establish a Mental Health Crisis Response Commission within the attorney general’s office to report on law enforcement interactions with people exhibiting symptoms of mental illness that result in bodily injuries or fatalities.
Jim Leddy, a former Vermont senator, testified in favor of H.145 on Friday. He said designated mental health agencies — nonprofit organizations that get money through the Agency of Human Services — need more money to fund outreach teams to prevent future crises.
“There will be another Phil Grenon, and we can do better,” Leddy said. “This is the tip of an iceberg. It’s not the end, and I’m not sure if it’s the beginning.”
Attorney General TJ Donovan supports the bill. He said that in his previous role as Chittenden County state’s attorney, he was presented with eight cases in which police used force against a person, and he ruled that seven of them were justified.
“Each of them that I ruled justified, that was a legal analysis and a legal conclusion,” Donovan said. “That’s not to say that myself or members or my office or members of law enforcement were not disturbed.”
H.184 would require the Department of Mental Health to report annually on why people take their lives and make recommendations to the Legislature on how to prevent suicide.
Nick Nichols, the policy director for the Department of Mental Health, said the department supports the concept of the bill. He said Vermont has one of the highest suicide rates per capita in the country, and about 100 people a year take their own lives.
Nichols said the wording in the bill might need to be changed so that the review is not too much of a burden for the department. He pointed to New Hampshire, which he said does an in-depth review of about eight suicides per year, instead of 100.
A third bill, H.197, would require workers’ compensation insurance to cover treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder for first responders, unless the employer could prove the disorder was caused by something not connected to the person’s work.
Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, is the lead sponsor. She said the bill responds to a 2003 Vermont Supreme Court decision that said a firefighter’s PTSD was not covered under workers’ compensation insurance, and only the Vermont Legislature could change that law.
“We certainly have had a lot of conversations in the House Health Care Committee about how we’re doing in achieving parity” between mental and physical health care, Copeland Hanzas said. “We may not be achieving parity, but this is at least one step that would get people who are so valuable to our communities and our small towns to stay on the job.”
H.230 would allow minors to give consent — without the approval of a parent or guardian — for mental health treatment related to sexual orientation or gender identity. The committee is planning to have testimony on the bill next week.
Lippert said other priorities for the House Health Care Committee include contingency planning for potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act; oversight of the all-payer model; revision of a prescription drug law; and response to state budget pressures.
