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114th Congress } { Rept. 114-541
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 1
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OPIOID PROGRAM EVALUATION ACT
_______
May 6, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Goodlatte, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 5052]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 5052) to direct the Attorney General and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services to evaluate the
effectiveness of grant programs that provide grants for the
primary purpose of providing assistance in addressing problems
pertaining to opioid abuse, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 3
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 4
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 4
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 4
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 5
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 5
Purpose and Summary
The purpose of the Opioid Program Evaluation Act (OPEN Act)
is to improve the evaluation of the opioid-related grant
programs authorized under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse
Reduction Act (H.R. 5046, 114th Congress) and any program
administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
(HHS) that provides grants for the primary purpose of providing
assistance in addressing problems pertaining to opioid abuse.
The OPEN Act requires the Attorney General and Secretary of HHS
to enter into arrangements with the National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) to identify outcomes that are to be achieved by
the activities funded by Congress to address opioid abuse;
develop the metrics by which each program's performance will be
evaluated; complete an interim evaluation assessing the nature
and extent of opioid abuse and illegal opioid distribution in
the United States; and carry out an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the programs. The OPEN Act requires the
Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS to publish the
results of such evaluations along with the data collected from
grantees and used to evaluate the programs' performance.
Background and Need for the Legislation
Congress must demand greater achievement and increased
transparency and accountability with respect to its Federal
grant programs. Evaluations such as the ones required by this
Act can be a valuable illustration of how well a Federal
program or agency is operating. By first carrying out an
interim evaluation of the nature and extent of opioid abuse and
illegal opioid distribution in the United States, NAS can
establish a baseline by which to evaluate the programs' true
performance. Following that, an assessment of whether the
programs represent an effective use of taxpayers' dollars in
the effort to combat opioid abuse can be made.
The lack of transparency with respect to some Federal grant
programs will be addressed by the Act's requirement that the
Attorney General and Secretary of HHS compel grantees to
collect and annually report data on their use of grant funding
and the subsequent requirement that all such data be published
along with the required report.
The Committee expects the Attorney General and Secretary of
HHS to carry out the OPEN Act using existing resources.
Specifically, the Committee directs the Attorney General to use
funds made available to the National Institute of Justice,
including funds made available through the discretionary set-
aside from Office of Justice Programs-administered grant
programs,\1\ to support the activities required by this Act.
Similarly, the Secretary of HHS shall use amounts otherwise
available to execute its duties under this Act. Importantly,
the OPEN Act instructs the Attorney General and Secretary of
HHS to enter into arrangements with NAS because each agency's
existing relationship with NAS' Division of Behavioral and
Social Sciences and Education represents an opportunity to
leverage its Federal research resources.
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\1\In recent years, beginning with the appropriations provided to
the Department of Justice for fiscal year 2012, Congress has permitted
the Attorney General to transfer up to 2 percent of funds made
available to the Office of Justice Programs to the National Institute
of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to be used by them for
research, evaluation, or statistical purposes. The Committee assumes
this practice will continue with respect to Department of Justice
appropriations during the period of fiscal years 2017 through 2021.
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Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R.
5052.
Committee Consideration
On April 27, 2016, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill H.R. 5052 favorably reported, without
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
H.R. 5052.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, H.R. 5052, the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 5, 2016.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5052, the ``Opioid
Program Evaluation Act.''
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
H.R. 5052--Opioid Program Evaluation Act.
As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary
on April 27, 2016.
H.R. 5052 would direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) and
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into
agreements with the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate
the effectiveness of a proposed grant program to be
administered by DOJ to combat opioid abuse. (Separate
legislation would establish and authorize appropriations for
those grants.) The bill would require the evaluations to be
completed not later than five years after enactment.
Based on information from the National Academy of Sciences,
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5052 would cost about $4
million over the 2016-2021 period, assuming enactment--through
separate legislation--of a grant program to combat opioid
abuse. Such spending would be subject to the availability of
appropriated funds. For grant programs administered by DOJ, the
department sets aside a portion of the funds appropriated for
the grants to cover the cost of certain administrative
activities including the evaluation of grantees.
Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply because enacting the
bill would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO
estimates that enacting H.R. 5052 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 5052 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Any
costs to state, local, or tribal governments would result from
complying with conditions of assistance.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Mark Grabowicz
(for DOJ costs) and Andrea Noda (for HHS costs). The estimate
was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director
for Budget Analysis.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of H.R. 5052 establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that H.R. 5052 specifically directs
to be completed no specific rule makings within the meaning of
5 U.S.C. Sec. 551.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R.
5052 will require the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS
to evaluate the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Grant
Program authorized by the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction
Act (H.R. 5046, 114th Congress) and any program administered by
the Secretary of HHS that provides grants for the primary
purpose of providing assistance in addressing problems
pertaining to opioid abuse, respectively, through arrangements
with the NAS.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 5052 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Sec. 1. Short Title. This section cites the short title of
the bill as the ``Opioid Program Evaluation Act'' or ``OPEN
Act.''
Sec. 2. Evaluation of Performance of Department of Justice
Program. Section 2 does the following things:
L (a) Requires the Attorney General to complete an
evaluation of the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Opioid
Abuse Grant Program, based upon the information reported by
grantees, not later than 5 years after the enactment of the
Act.
L (b) Requires the Attorney General to complete an interim
evaluation assessing the nature and extent of opioid abuse and
illegal opioid distribution in the United States.
L (c) Requires the Attorney General to identify outcomes
to be achieved under the Comprehensive Opioid Grant Abuse
Program, and the metrics by which the achievement of such
outcomes shall be determined, not later than 180 days after the
enactment of the Act.
L (d) Provides that the Attorney General must require
grantees and those receiving subawards to collect and annually
report data on the activities conducted using their grant
funding.
L (e) Requires the Attorney General to publish the
outcomes and metrics identified under subsection (c) not later
than 30 days after identifying such outcomes and metrics.
Requires the National Academy of Sciences to publish the
results of the evaluations required under subsections (a) and
(b) and issue a report on such evaluations to the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate not later than 90 days after
completion of each evaluation. Requires the data collected from
grantees to be published along with the report.
L (f) Requires the Attorney General to enter into an
arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to identify
the outcomes to be achieved, develop the metrics by which
performance will be evaluated, complete the interim evaluation
assessing the nature and extent of opioid abuse and illegal
opioid distribution, and carry out an evaluation of the
Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program.
Sec. 3. Evaluation of Performance of Department of Health
and Human Services Programs. Section 3 does the following
things (which parallel the requirements under section 2):
L (a) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to complete an evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs
administered by the Secretary that provide grants to address
problems pertaining to opioid abuse, based upon the information
reported by grantees, not later than 5 years after the
enactment of the Act.
L (b) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to complete an interim evaluation assessing the nature and
extent of opioid abuse and illegal opioid distribution in the
United States.
L (c) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to identify outcomes to be achieved under the programs
described in subsection (a), and the metrics by which the
achievement of such outcomes shall be determined, not later
than 180 days after the enactment of the Act.
L (d) Provides that the Secretary of Health and Human
Services must require grantees to collect and annually report
data on the activities conducted using their grant funding.
L (e) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to publish the outcomes and metrics identified under subsection
(c) not later than 30 days after identifying such outcomes and
metrics. Requires the National Academy of Sciences to publish
the results of the evaluations required under subsections (a)
and (b) and issue a report on such evaluations to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate not later than 90 days after completion of each
evaluation. Requires the data collected from grantees to be
published along with the report.
L (f) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of
Sciences to identify the outcomes to be achieved, develop the
metrics by which performance will be evaluated, complete the
interim evaluation assessing the nature and extent of opioid
abuse and illegal opioid distribution, and carry out the
evaluation of the programs administered by the Secretary that
provide grants to address problems pertaining to opioid abuse.
Sec. 4. Definition. This section provides a definition of
the term ``opioid'' for the purposes of the Act.
Sec. 5. No Additional Funds Authorized. This section
provides that no funds are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out the OPEN Act.
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