WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that West Virginia is eligible for a total of $27,910,443 in federal funding through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the form of State Opioid Response Grants. These resources were included in the recent omnibus spending agreement, which also included language Senator Capito secured to prioritize funding for states like West Virginia that are hit hardest by the drug crisis.
“West Virginia has endured more than any state should have to when it comes to the devastating consequences of a crisis that is affecting families and communities across our state. That’s why I have continued fighting to make sure we receive the resources we need to fight it,” Senator Capito said. “I was very proud to secure critical funding in the omnibus that will strengthen our efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and even more proud to make sure those funds would be appropriately directed to states like ours.”
BACKGROUND
The FY2018 omnibus government funding bill passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in March provided funding to combat the opioid crisis, including an increase for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs. Because of language authored by Senator Capito to prioritize states hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, West Virginia is eligible for nearly $28 million of those funds, a larger portion than the state would have been eligible for had she not secured that language.
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