ATLANTA – The U.S. Senate has passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., aimed at America’s opioid crisis.
The Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act cleared the Senate Wednesday night and now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives.
More than 75,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses between April 2020 and April of last year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will steer federal funds toward rural communities with a high level of opioid overdoses.
“With today’s passage of my bipartisan bill to reduce opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths, the Senate proved Democrats and Republicans can still work together to get things done,” Ossoff said.
The legislation would make federal funds available to local governments and organizations in rural areas to help fill gaps in prevention, treatment and recovery services for victims of opioid abuse.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.