Senator Ayotte was an original cosponsor of the bill when it was introduced in 2014 and helped to reintroduce an updated version of the bill in 2015. Aided by Ayotte’s persistence on the issue, the bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate yesterday.
Ayotte’s “lead role” was outlined The Washington Post:
- “Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), for instance, have taken a lead role in the debate and have emphasized how critical the bill’s programs will be in their states, which face heroin and painkiller, or opioid, abuse problems. Both supported a Democratic-led, and ultimately unsuccessful, effort last week to add $600 million to the bill to support the treatment and prevention programs it would create.”
But Ayotte’s leadership hasn’t stopped at the halls of the Senate. Ayotte told NH1 of her efforts with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and House Speaker Paul Ryan:
- “’I’ve asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to get that money as soon as possible to New Hampshire to make sure that we get that to the efforts that are on-going in our nonprofit community with the state, for more prevention, for more treatment capacity. We know that because too many people are dying in our state,’ Ayotte added. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives. And Ayotte says lobbying efforts are already underway. ‘I’m absolutely lobbying. In fact I’m starting today with a call to the Speaker of the House. I’m going to ask him to bring this legislation forward. It has over 90 sponsors in the House of Representatives. So strong bipartisan support. And this is a very thoughtful piece of legislation. We brought together over 100 stakeholder groups, strong support from the law enforcement community. This is really one that the House should take up right away, and I hope they’ll do that,’ Ayotte said.”
For many in New Hampshire, the help can’t arrive fast enough. It was reported recently that the month of February marked the worst month on record for the number of suspected overdose deaths.