House lawmakers took their first step in addressing the opioid crisis, advancing a dozen bills aimed at different facets of the epidemic.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee advanced 12 bills to the full committee on Wednesday. The bills are part of a larger effort in the House to address opioid abuse, much to the ire of senators who want the House to adopt legislation already passed in that chamber.
While the bills received bipartisan support, lawmakers disagreed over funding.
“Congressional Republicans continue to reject calls for more resources,” said Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the full committee’s top Democrat.
President Obama’s budget included an extra $1 billion to address opioid abuse, but Congress has not considered his budget proposal.
The bills would try to expand the use of the addiction treatment buprenorphine by tackling limits on how much the drug can be given out. It also would expand access to the overdose antidote naloxone through a grant program for states to develop standing orders for it.
Other bills would aim to reduce the prevalence of unused pain pills, which can contribute to abuse, and attempt to provide greater access to treatment.
The bills now go to the full committee for consideration.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote in an op-ed recently that the House will move a series of opioid bills to address the crisis that has killed 72 Americans a day through opioid and heroin abuse.
The move angered Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. That comprehensive package passed the Senate a little more than a month ago by a 94-1 margin.
Portman has speculated whether the decision to draft its own bills is an “excuse to delay action” on the issue.
