The House passed a major bill on Friday to combat opioid abuse through a slew of comprehensive policies, but without the additional funding Democrats wanted.
The bill called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, was approved 407-5, and includes a plethora of policies aimed at combating opioid abuse. Policies include more training for first responders, expanded access to the overdose antidote Naloxone and improving access to overdose treatments for addicts.
But what wasn’t in the bill was the biggest sticking point between Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats wanted to add $920 million in funding taken from other federal programs to expand access for treatment. However, attempts to amend the final bill were voted down by Republicans during a conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers.
No Democrat signed off on the final legislation that came out of the committee, which was empaneled to reconcile differences between House and Senate legislation issued earlier this year.
While Democrats were upset that the new funding wasn’t added, they decided to support the legislation anyway.
“I hope this is the first step [and] in the very near future we will have money to match the values that are contained in this legislation,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on the House floor Friday.
Other Democrats were upset that there wasn’t any new funding and questioned whether the House will approve additional funding for treatment.
“There is no guarantee that additional funds will be available through the appropriations process,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who sat on the conference committee. Pallone said he would support the legislation because the policies included in it are good.
The bill now goes before the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has yet to say whether he will attempt to block it.
The bill’s fate at the White House is also in question, as White House press secretary Josh Earnest hasn’t said whether the president would veto or sign it. He has said that additional funding is critical for tackling the issue.
