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Buchy Announces
Passage of Two Bills: Calamity Days & Rx Drug Abuse
Calamity Days Bill
COLUMBUS—State Representative Jim Buchy (R-Greenville) today announced
the passage of House Bill 36 from the Ohio House of Representatives by
a vote of 92-5. The legislation would increase the number of calamity
days that school districts are allocated annually.
House Bill 36 restores the number of excusable calamity days to five,
which would take effect immediately and allow two additional calamity
days for the remainder of the 2010-2011 school year. It will also allow
schools the flexibility to make up calamity days by lengthening the
school day in 30-minute increments.
Representative Buchy said, “HB 36 is an important bill that will give
our administrators the freedom to run their school how they see
fit. The hands of our educational professionals have been tied
for too long, and I will continue to work for the relief of mandates
and restrictions on our schools. The local administrators know how to
run their schools and this bill will let them make those decisions.”
In the past, the first five calamity days of each school year were
excused and school districts made up calamity days beyond the fifth.
However, as a result of an amendment to House Bill 1 during the 128th
General Assembly, only three calamity days are now excused beginning in
the 2010-2011 school year, and many districts have already used all
available calamity days because of recent snow storms.
House Bill 36 now moves to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.
Rx Drug Abuse Legislation
COLUMBUS—State Representative Jim Buchy (R-Greenville) today announced
that legislation to address prescription drug abuse and strengthen
oversight measures passed from the Ohio House of Representatives by a
unanimous vote. When enacted, it will combat the growing prevalence of
prescription drug abuse and fatalities within the state of Ohio.
House Bill 93 will enhance the current Ohio Automated Rx Review System
(OARRS)—which was established in 2006 to assist health care
professionals in identifying drug-seeking behaviors—to provide
additional oversight. It will also limit prescribers’ ability to
personally furnish certain controlled substances; enact Medicaid
reforms to improve consumer education and allow for better care
coordination; improve licensing and law enforcement for pain-management
clinics; and develop a statewide prescription drug “take-back” program.
Representative Buchy commented, “The passage of this bill will help
Ohioans combat deadly addiction to prescription drugs. The necessity
for this bill is humbling and I am happy my colleagues made this step
in the right direction.”
Opiates alone were responsible for nearly 40 percent of Ohio’s
approximately 1,400 overdose deaths in 2009, according to the Ohio
Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. From 2003 to 2008,
opiate deaths in Ohio more than doubled in a jump from 399 to 915
fatalities, with an average of four Ohioans dying each day as a result
of overdoses.
In Ohio, unintentional drug overdoses surpassed motor vehicle crashes
and suicide as the leading cause of injury death in Ohio. It has also
been reported that the highest rates in the state for these deaths are
in southern Ohio, where seven of the 10 counties with the highest death
rates are located.
House Bill 93 will now move to the Ohio Senate for further
consideration and debate.
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