House and Senate Republicans voted down an attempt by Democrats to add $920 million to opioid abuse legislation.
A conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers met Wednesday to iron out differences in opioid legislation that passed both chambers earlier this year. Democrats have said they won’t sign off on the final legislation without the additional funding for addiction treatment.
Without the extra money to combat the opioid crisis, “we are fighting an inferno with a thimble full of water,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Separate amendments from House and Senate lawmakers were voted down in the committee, with the House vote failing by 17-11 and the Senate vote 4-3.
Republican lawmakers said that they support additional funding for opioids but it needs to go through the normal appropriations process.
“We’ve increased funding for opioid abuse by a factor of seven times more money,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., referring to appropriations bills.
“This amendment is not the right way to do it,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., discussing the House amendment.
But Wyden countered that appropriations bills for health haven’t been passed for years, wondering when those increases may come to pass.
