Senate committee clears "Leo's Law" to add fentanyl testing to child-welfare screens

The Senate appropriations committee on the final appropriations meeting cleared House Bill 44 21, "Leo's Law," a measure that would require the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to include fentanyl testing in child-welfare drug screens when fentanyl use is suspected.

Senator Gallaher, the bill sponsor, said the measure responds to a family tragedy and urged the committee to "help ensure that no other child is harmed from fentanyl like his son Leo was," recounting testimony that standard child-welfare panels do not detect fentanyl. "This is not an issue that is unique to Oklahoma," Gallaher said, urging colleagues to keep working on cost questions as the bill moves forward.

The sponsor and committee discussed fiscal estimates at length. Gallaher said initial agency estimates were as high as $125 million but had been lowered to about $16,000,000; he told the committee the figure could fall further as the bill is refined. Members asked whether the estimate represented an annual figure and how testing would be implemented; Gallaher said many child-welfare panels already use a seven-panel screen and the bill would add a targeted fentanyl test when indicated.

No amendments were adopted during the committee discussion; Gallaher said the bill will go to conference. The clerk reported 22 ayes and 0 nays, and the chair declared the bill passed by the committee.

Next steps: the measure will proceed through the legislative process, with sponsors and staff continuing to work on the fiscal estimate and implementation details.