WEBSITE POSTING OF METH LABS

Senate Bill 1115 (Substitute H-2)

Sponsor:  Sen. Tom George 

House Committee:  Judiciary

Senate Committee:  Judiciary

Complete to 5-17-06

A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 1115 AS REPORTED FROM HOUSE COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 1115, which is identical to House Bill 5846 as passed by the House, would create a new act to prescribe the duties of the Departments of State Police and Community Health with respect to illegal drug manufacturing laboratories.

The bill would require the State Police to transmit to the Department of Community Health information obtained under the Methamphetamine Reporting Act (created by House Bill 5841) regarding of the discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory.  The Department of Community Health would have to post on its Internet website the location of the methamphetamine laboratory and the name of the law enforcement agency or other agency that had reported the lab's existence.

The information posted would have to be kept current and include a statement as to whether or not the remediation of each laboratory site had been completed according to standards established by the Department of Community Health.

The bill would take effect January 1, 2007.  Senate Bill 1115 is tie-barred to HB 5841, meaning neither could take effect unless both were enacted into law.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

According to previous committee testimony, the purpose of House Bill 5841 is to acquire uniform and accurate statistics on the prevalence of methamphetamine-related offenses, including the definition and prevalence of methamphetamine labs.  Senate Bill 1115 and House Bill 5846 were described as a consumer protection measure that will identify sites of methamphetamine production and inform the public when sites have been cleaned up.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Senate Bill 1115 has fiscal implications for the Department of Community Health to establish and maintain an Internet accessible database of methamphetamine laboratory seizures and track and post the status of subsequent remediation of each laboratory site.  This task may require additional staffing with an approximate annual cost for a program specialist position of $90-$100,000.  The Department of Community Health indicated to the standing committee an initial estimate of $250,000 of additional costs to the Department to implement the provisions of House Bill 5846 and Senate Bill 1115.  The Department of State Police indicates that in 2005, 261 methamphetamine laboratories were seized. 

POSITIONS:

The Department of Community Health indicated support for the bill.  (5-17-06)

The Michigan Association of Realtors indicated support for the bill.  (5-17-06)

                                                                                          Legislative Analysts:   Susan Stutzky

                                                                                                                           Chris Couch

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Jan Wisniewski

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.