{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://barletta.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/barletta-helps-to-lead-fight-against-opioid-related-employment", "Barletta Helps to Lead Fight Against Opioid Related Employment Challenges", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Lou Barletta", "B001269", "barletta.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today Congressman Lou Barletta (PA-11), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure\u2019s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management held a hearing titled, \u201cThe Opioid Epidemic in Appalachia: Addressing Hurdles to Economic Development in the Region.\u201d\u00a0 \nThe hearing examined the impact of the opioid crisis on efforts in Appalachia to spur economic development and growth in distressed communities.\u00a0 A representative of Pennsylvania\u2019s 11th District, Barletta held the hearing to explore possible solutions through federal economic development programs such as the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in addressing this epidemic.\u00a0 \nBarletta directed a series of questions to the Honorable Earl Gohl, federal co-Chair of the ARC.\u00a0 Barletta asked, \u201cWhat would help ARC\u2019s work on opioids to be more effective?\u201d\n\u201cI would say a seat at the table is probably the most effective thing that works in this town,\u201d Gohl responded.\u00a0 \u201cWhen ARC is part of the discussion, when ARC is part of the development, when ARC is part of hearings like this, it makes sure that the rural voice is heard.\u201d\nBarletta asked, \u201cWhat is the role of ARC in helping to address the opioid problem?\u201d\n\u201cI think we have several roles,\u201d Gohl said.\u00a0 \u201cI think it is important for us to work with our state partners, who really are the agenda setters of the commission in terms of the investment of dollars, to work with them and make sure that the issue of opioids, the workforce and how it effects communities is a challenge that they focus on and use their resources to invest in.\u00a0 I think that we need to continue the work around community organizations and being able to empower them\u2026 I think one of the other issues that we really need to focus on is making sure that people understand that this is a disease, and that we need to treat it like a disease.\u201d\nThe ARC, specifically, was created in the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.\u00a0 The primary function of ARC is to provide economic development assistance to a 13-state region.\u00a0 The region includes all of West Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia.\u00a0 ARC is a federal-state governmental agency consisting of the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chairman.\u00a0 Project proposals must originate in, and be approved by, a state.\u00a0 The Commission allocates the level of funding to each state.\u00a0\u00a0 \nThis year, the ARC commissioned two reports specifically examining potential health challenges to economic development in Appalachia.\u00a0 In August 2017, the ARC issued \u201cHealth Disparities in Appalachia\u201d and \u201cAppalachian Diseases of Despair.\u201d\u00a0 These reports detail the health and economic disparities in Appalachia: \n The household income in Appalachia is 80 percent of the U.S. average and 17 percent of Appalachians live below the poverty level.\n\tNationally, the majority of drug overdose deaths involve opioids and, since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids quadrupled.\n\tBetween 1999 and 2014, while the overall mortality rate in non-Appalachian states decreased by 10 percent, the overall mortality rate in Appalachia increased by 5 percent.\u00a0 By 2015, the overall mortality rate in Appalachia was 32 percent higher than non-Appalachian regions of the U.S.\n\tIn 2015, among 15 to 64 year olds in Appalachia, there were 5,594 overdose deaths \u2013 65 percent higher in Appalachia than the rest of the nation. The disparities were greatest among people 25 to 54.\n\tIn 2015, 69 percent of the overdose deaths were caused by opioids.\n\tIn comparing the mortality rates for diseases of despair within states with Appalachian portions and non-Appalachian portions \u2013 the differences were stark. For example, in 2015, the mortality rate in Appalachian portions of Maryland were 63 percent higher than in non-Appalachian portions.\u00a0 In Pennsylvania, the difference was 28 percent and in Kentucky it was 26 percent.\n The reports highlight that when examining specifically overdose deaths, those individuals who are 25 to 44 years old experienced mortality rates 70 percent higher than the non-Appalachian states.\u00a0 Typically, this group includes those in their prime working years which has created a significant challenge to economic development in the region.\u00a0 \nFor example, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, citing a report released in September 2017, noted that opioids are responsible for 20 percent of the workforce decline for men and 25 percent for women.\u00a0 The Chamber further noted that addressing the opioid epidemic is an integral component of workforce strategy.\u00a0 \nAs a result, the opioid crisis has created challenges to spurring economic development and job creation in already distressed communities. \nBarletta also questioned Mr. Barry L. Denk, the Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. \n\u201cMr. Denk, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania has done a lot of work for the Pennsylvania General Assembly,\u201d Barletta said.\u00a0 \u201cIt seems the impact of the Opioid crisis on the workforce is significant.\u00a0 From the information the Center has gathered, can you highlight how opioid abuse has created barriers for attracting jobs and how will the General Assembly use the information you collected to address this issue?\u201d\n\u201cWe have heard from a number of testifiers, particularly those in recovery, where prior felony convictions still linger for them, not just in employment opportunities, but in regard to employment itself,\u201d Denk responded. \n\u201cWe also heard from a number of judges about the effects of drug courts and how helpful they are for somebody who has committed a crime but needs to turn their life around. We\u2019re looking to expand drug courts across the Commonwealth, [where] currently out of 67 counties, only 38 drug courts exist in those counties,\u201d Denk concluded.\nBarletta later turned to Ms. Nancy Hale, the President and CEO of Operation UNITE, a non-profit launched in 2003 by Rep. Harold \u201cHal\u201d Rogers (KY-05) to create strategic partnerships at the local level by providing leadership, education, treatment, and support for law enforcement to combat drug abuse.\u00a0 \n\u201cMs. Hale, Operation UNITE has done a lot in Eastern Kentucky and has become a resource for other communities.\u201d Barletta asked, \u201cWhat types of programs have you found to be the most impactful in addressing the opioid crisis and are there models that other states like Pennsylvania can use?\u201d \n\u201cOur education prevention programs have had the greatest impact,\u201d Hale responded.\u00a0 \u201cAlso we\u2019re seeing an impact in our programming in working with the administrative office of the courts through our drug court programs.\u00a0 We are learning that drug courts do work.\u00a0 There are many people who are in recovery, who make excellent employees because of what they have endured and now understand the structure that is being brought into their lives through the drug court programs.\u201d\n\u201cEducation and prevention.\u00a0 We have a mobile prevention unit that we target seventh and tenth graders \u2013 that has had a huge impact.\u00a0 The University of Kentucky compiles the data from the pre and post surveys with that program.\u00a0 We also have programs that were taken into the elementary schools where we are introducing young people at an early age to the dangers and harms, preparing them with knowledge, helping them make healthy decisions even as early as third grade.\u00a0 And then of course our AmeriCorps program. We have 54 AmeriCorps members serving in 13 counties in our district and those AmeriCorps members work primarily on math tutoring but they also are introducing a \u2018Too Good For Drugs\u2019 curriculum that impacts the parents, the staff, and the community in prevention initiatives.\u201d \nTo watch Rep. Barletta\u2019s full question set, please click HERE and HERE. \n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://barletta.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/barletta-helps-to-lead-fight-against-opioid-related-employment"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7723039016127586, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}