LOCAL COORDINATING COUNCIL FUNDS AT RISK

On Tuesday, January 22nd the Indiana House passed a bill with an amendment that would allow up to 50% of the Lake County Drug Free Community Funds to go to a pi lot program for Lake County. This money would come off the top of the funds the council receives and would dramatically reduce the number of organizations our c ounty is able to fund. If this bill passes, they could take half of the $329,000 to use for the pilot program and that would only leave about $164,500 for all c ategories of the council (treatment, prevention, law enforcement, and administra tion). These funds would not be enough to sustain the council and the good work that Lake County organizations are doing.

The amendment of House Bill 1016 would redirect half the funding of the drug fre e community funds to support a pilot project for a veteran's court. While we are 100% supportive of veterans initiatives our council is committed to collectivel y supporting all members of our community according to statutory guidelines outl ining 25% in the areas of treatment, prevention, and law enforcement. This bill would eliminate that structure and create the precedent of the reallocation of c ommunity based dollars outside of the council.

I wanted to make all LCCs aware of what I happening with the amendment to HB 101 6 that was written by Rep. Mara C. Reardon. If this bill is to pass with the ame ndment, it could potentially, in the future, have a detrimental impact on all 92 counties and the LCC infrastructure. Legislators will be able to take out the p art of the amendment that only included Lake County and include all counties. Th e LCSAC is rallying the troops and are hoping to have the support of our fellow LCCs. The work our LCCs do in our counties is beneficial and critical to reducin g substance use across the State of Indiana.

Thanks for your time,

Amanda

Amanda Morrison, MS, CPS Lake County Substance Abuse Council Coordinator 8400 Louisiana St. Merrillville, IN 46410 (P) 219-757-1835