Shaheen Presses RFK Jr. on Refusal to Protect Program Key to Turn the Tide on Substance Use Disorder Crisis
**In a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, RFK Jr. refused to commit to preserving the State Opioid Response grant that has saved lives in the Granite State**
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke in a Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing about the risk federal funding cuts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) pose to positive progress toward ending the substance use disorder crisis. In his responses to Shaheen’s questions, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. refused to commit to preserving the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant—a program Shaheen has championed that has been instrumental in helping reduce overdose deaths in the Granite State. You can watch Senator Shaheen’s remarks and questions here.
Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:
- “We are finally beginning to see our overdose death rate go down. But I am deeply concerned that this progress is now at risk, because Health and Human Services has already clawed back nearly $5 million in mental health and substance use treatment funds that are allocated to New Hampshire. And now, your budget proposes eliminating SAMHSA entirely and consolidating critical substance use and mental health block grants under a vague framework.”
- “It's so hard for me to understand why you would be considering programs that have been working, like the State Opioid Response grants, because […] in New Hampshire, those dollars go directly to the local treatment programs. We have a whole system that's set up based on those that allows people to get treatment and recovery in their communities; That's designed to ensure that they can get that. And so, that's why I'm so troubled by the idea that you would eliminate the entity that makes those grants available.”
Senator Shaheen has led efforts to address the substance use crisis, including by defending and increasing funding for SOR grants. Just last year, Shaheen celebrated $29,890,890 in SOR grants heading to New Hampshire. In recent years, Shaheen successfully pushed HHS to maintain SOR funding levels for New Hampshire and avoid significant cliffs in funding year-over-year. Shaheen’s efforts have led to a more than tenfold increase in federal treatment and prevention funding for New Hampshire.
Shaheen has been vocal in her disapproval of the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS Secretary, including delivering remarks in opposition to his nomination on the Senate floor. Shaheen also recently called on Secretary Kennedy to reverse drastic funding cuts to the Affordable Care Act Navigator program, which helps Americans access quality, affordable health insurance coverage, including for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
###