Ayotte Applauds Release of More Funding to Fight Opioid Abuse Crisis

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today applauded the release of $53 million in additional funds - including some appropriated under the end of year government spending bill - to fund programs at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Last year, Ayotte successfully urged Senate appropriators to include increased resources in the government spending bill to combat the opioid abuse epidemic, some of which was allocated last week.

"On top of last week's funding to monitor overdoses and deaths from the heroin crisis, today's announcement is welcome news signifying that the administration is starting to release funding we allocated at the end of the year to fight this epidemic," said Senator Ayotte. "In particular, I'm very glad to see that New Hampshire will receive additional funding for Medication-Assisted Treatment, which is an important way of helping individuals struggling with substance use disorders. I will continue to advocate for more funding to fight this epidemic through programs like these and those we established under the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act."

Senator Ayotte has urged appropriators for, and voted in support of, increases in funding through the regular appropriations process for the evidence-based initiatives called for under the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). She also supported other emergency and supplemental funding for opioid programs, such as a measure from Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) that would add $600 million additional emergency funding on top of the normal appropriations process.

In January 2016, Ayotte sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell encouraging her to swiftly release the opioid abuse funding that was allocated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-113). Previously, in April 2015, Ayotte co-led a bipartisan letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee expressing strong support for funding programs that would address the opioid abuse crisis in a comprehensive manner. In part due to her advocacy, the end of year spending legislation included a 284 percent increase in funding for programs at the CDC and SAMHSA to fight the heroin and prescription opioid abuse crisis.

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