TRENTON - Opponents of proposed legislation that would transfer the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse to the Department of Human Services came out in force Monday during a packed meeting of the Assembly Human Services Committee.

The bill was drafted after an audit by the State Comptroller's Office that said the $10 million appropriated to the council could not produce measurable results. Although the council has existed for 19 years, it had never before been audited. The audit suggested the council be merged with the Department of Human Services' Division of Addiction Services.

Members of the council responded to many of the audit's findings. One of the expenses the audit uncovered was $2,500 for a petting zoo. John Gluck, vice chairman of the council, explained the petting zoo was part of an event in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, where information relating to the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse was handed out.

Gluck, like others who spoke, agreed that the council needed more oversight on its funds but opposed any merger with the Division of Addiction Services.

"The actual suggestion to move to another department is way over the head of the comptroller," he said.

Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, D-Essex, Passaic, chairwoman of the committee, and one of the bill's sponsors, emphasized that the council has to go somewhere.

"No one can function as a free agent within state government," she said.

Lisa Gulla, program coordinator of the Edison Municipal Alliance, recommended that the council be merged with the Juvenile Justice Department, not the Division of Addiction Services.

Oliver left open the possibility of another hearing, since many who attended did not get a chance to speak at the meeting, which lasted for almost three hours.

Assembly Human Services Hearing-  Monday January 26, 2009

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