{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-legislation-to-fight-the-opioid-crisis-including-multiple-king-backed-provisions", "Senate Passes Legislation to Fight the Opioid Crisis Including Multiple King-Backed Provisions", "2018-09-17", "2018", "2018-09", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, U.S. Senator Angus King\r\n(I-Maine) voted for the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, a bipartisan\r\npackage which passed today by a vote of 98 to 2 and includes many provisions\r\nthat will help Maine families and communities affected by the opioid crisis.\r\nThe legislation was the result of months of bipartisan hearings and discussion\r\non the opioid crisis. Senator King has previously supported several core\r\nprovisions of the legislation, which will improve the federal government's\r\nresponse to the opioid epidemic and lessen negative effects on children,\r\nfamilies, and communities.  This legislation isn't perfect \r\nbut it's an important step in the right direction on an issue that desperately\r\nneeds progress, said Senator King. The severity of the opioid crisis\r\nisn't a partisan issue; it's about protecting our families, friends, neighbors,\r\nloved ones, and ensuring the safety of our young people. In Maine, the opioid\r\nepidemic takes away the lives of our community members at a rate of one person\r\nper day. This pain is being felt not only across our state, but also across our\r\nnation, and this bill will work to solve this problem through a multi-pronged\r\nlegislative approach that increases support systems for victims, strengthens\r\nlaw enforcement efforts to crack down on those who smuggle and deal drugs, and\r\nempowers communities with the tools they need to help their citizens fight\r\naddiction. As I said, this is not perfect bill, and there are a number of\r\nprovisions that I hope will be added during the conference committee, so we can\r\nbuild on the already strong gains made in this legislation.  Earlier\r\ntoday on the Senate floor, Senator King highlighted one specific provision\r\nthat he hopes will be included in the conference report: The Addiction\r\nTreatment Access Improvement Act, which would permanently authorize nurse\r\npractitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication-assisted\r\ntreatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders. Under current law, these medical\r\nprofessionals are allowed to administer MAT until October 1, 2021; this new\r\nlegislation would permanently authorize these professionals to administer MAT.   Senator King has made combating the\r\nopioid crisis one of his top priorities in Washington. In July, Senator King hosted\r\na panel of medical professionals, employers and advocates to\r\ndiscuss the opioid crisis and reduce the stigma surrounding Substance Use\r\nDisorders (SUDs). That same month, he met with the US Department of Agriculture\r\n(USDA) Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development, Anne Hazlett, and a\r\nnumber of medical professionals, law enforcement officers, advocates and local\r\nleaders ata Bangor\r\nroundtable discussing the opioid epidemic's impact on rural Maine.\r\nIn June, he highlighted the importance of the Affordable Care Act's protections\r\nfor individuals with pre-existing conditions to those struggling\r\nwith substance use disorders which is considered a pre-existing\r\ncondition, so those who seek treatment could then be denied coverage or charged\r\nexorbitant rates based on their past substance use. He has repeatedly called on\r\nCongress and both the Obama and Trump administrations to fund laws and agencies\r\nthat help address the drug epidemic.   Senator King has held several\r\nroundtables throughout Maine  from Portland to Bangor to Milo to Paris  and\r\nhas spoken with health professionals, first responders, community members, and\r\npeople in recovery to find ways to help people get better and make Maine\r\ncommunities safer and healthier. He has also joined a group of his Senate\r\ncolleagues towrite\r\nto the nation's top health insurers urging them to do their part\r\nto combat the opioid epidemic.In an effort to hold the insurance industry\r\naccountable, the Senators asked the companies to both review their existing\r\npolicies in light of the epidemic, and to take additional steps to make sure\r\nthey are working actively to help curb addiction.In the FY 2018 Omnibus\r\nFederal Appropriations bill which passed in March, Senator King supported a\r\nprovision which increased funding to fight the opioid and mental health crises\r\nby $3.3 billion, including an increase of $2.8 billion in treatment, prevention\r\nand research for programs within the Department of Health and Human Services.\r\nAlso, in November 2017, Senator King led aletterto the Trump Administration\r\nurging additional funding for the opioid epidemic, and in\r\nOctober 2017 he joined a group of colleagues to introduce theCombating\r\nthe Opioid Epidemic Act, legislation that would invest $45\r\nbillion for prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment of opioids.  Specifically, Senator King has\r\nbacked the following core values of the legislation: \r\nReauthorization of the 21st\r\nCentury Cures Act: Senator King was an outspoken\r\nadvocate for funding originally provided by the 21st Century Cures\r\nAct, which provides critical opioid funding for states and tribes. The\r\nOpioid Crisis and Response Act of 2018 will reauthorize and improve grants\r\nto states and Indiantribes for prevention, response, and\r\ntreatmentto mitigatethe opioid crisis, authorized in 21stCentury\r\nCures, for three more years. \r\nInclusion of CRIB Act provision:\r\nSenator King is a lead sponsor of the CRIB Act, which allows Medicaid to cover\r\ncare for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in residential pediatric\r\nrecovery centers.  \r\nEmpower Communities to Combat\r\nCrisis: The bill reauthorizes the White House Office of National\r\nDrug Control Policy (ONDCP) as well as its associated grant programs, such as\r\nthe Drug-Free Communities Program and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking\r\nProgram. Senator King co-sponsored the Substance Abuse Prevention Act of 2018,\r\nwhich included the provision to reauthorize ONDCP. He also\r\nwrote a letter to the White House last year urging\r\nthe administration to maintain funding for the office. \r\nReduction of Use and Supply:\r\nSenator King is a co-sponsor of the STOP Act, which will help stop illegal\r\ndrugs at the border by requiring the postal service to obtain advance\r\nelectronic data for international mail and provide that data to Customs and\r\nBorder Protection.", 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://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-legislation-to-fight-the-opioid-crisis-including-multiple-king-backed-provisions"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6936487518250942, "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"}