BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today announced his support for the Opioid Response Enhancement Act to help states and tribal communities better fight the opioid epidemic that is ravaging communities and families across this country. This reform would expand a grant program that was created as part of the bipartisan 21^st Century Cures Act of 2017 and ensure states and tribes have access to continued and additional funding for the next five years under this program.

“I’ve held roundtables focused on the opioid epidemic throughout Maine with healthcare providers, advocates, community leaders and people in recovery, all of whom shared a single message – they need more help,” said Senator King. “As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage communities in Maine and across the country, the federal government’s response has not matched the severity of the threat. This bill would help states and tribes access the funds they need to adequately respond to this epidemic, particularly in high-need states like Maine; put simply, this bill can help save lives.”

The Opioid Response Enhancement Act would provide an additional investment of $12 billion over five years for the State Targeted Opioid Response (STR) Grant, including a new Enhancement Grant for states that have been especially hard hit by the epidemic, including with high opioid mortality rates. It would also provide an additional $1.5 billion for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018 under new resources made available in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Provide $10 billion over five years for the current STR Grant program under 21^st Century Cures Act beginning in FY19.

• Add a new STR Enhancement Grant for $2 billion over five years for at least ten states and tribal entities with high needs, including high opioid mortality rates, to enhance and expand opioid abuse efforts under the STR program.

• Include Tribal entities as eligible for the STR Grants, funded by a 10 percent set aside.

• Require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide technical assistance to states and tribes through the Tribal Training and Technical Assistance Center, for application procedures, outreach and support to underserved communities, and data collection.

• Provide flexibility to allow states and tribes to use some of the funding to help address other substance use issues that are similar or substantial public health threats, in addition to carrying out opioid abuse efforts.

• Direct states to prioritize providing funding directly to local community organizations and counties to ensure that local leaders have access to critical resources to help them address areas of unmet need.

Senator King has held eight roundtable discussions in Maine, in Farmington, Paris, Portland, Brewer, Milo and three in Bangor. Each of these focused on a different aspect of the opioid and heroin crisis, and each of which have helped inform his work in Washington where he has been a leading voice on the immediate need to address the heroin and opioid epidemic and has continually fought to provide adequate funding to fight the crisis, which kills more than one person per day in Maine. He has repeatedly called on Congress and both the Obama and Trump administrations to fund laws and agencies that help address the drug epidemic. This fall, he led a letter to the Trump Administration urging additional funding for the opioid epidemic, and in October he joined with a group of colleagues to introduce the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act legislation that would invest $45 billion for prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment of opioids. Senator King also recently wrote to President Trump urging him to allow the government to negotiate lower prices for life-saving opioid overdose reversal drugs like Naloxone. 

This legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

More information on the legislation is available here. Full text of the Opioid Response Enhancement Act is available here.