U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Visits Washington County to Meet with Local Officials Working on the Frontlines of the Opioid Crisis

JACKSON, WI – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin visited Jackson today to meet with stakeholders, advocates and local officials from Washington County working on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic. At Elevate, Inc, a local community resource center dedicated to helping people struggling with drug abuse and addiction, Senator Baldwin had a dialogue about how the federal government can better help local communities. She was joined by representatives from the Washington County Heroin Task Force, Moraine Park Technical College, Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Washington County Human Services, Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, Washington County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.

“I’ve seen firsthand how the opioid epidemic is devastating families and communities across Wisconsin,” said Senator Baldwin. “The people working in our communities to combat this crisis need greater federal investments to support local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts. Washington needs to do more to step up for local communities like Washington County Wisconsin.”

Senator Baldwin has been leading the charge with her Senate colleagues in urging President Trump to support more funding for opioids as part of the opioid emergency response.

Today, Senator Baldwin joined a group of her colleagues and sent a letter to the President calling on his Administration to support additional funding necessary to combat the opioid epidemic. Currently, the President’s emergency declaration only makes about $57,000 available, which fails to adequately address this epidemic.

Earlier this week, Senator Baldwin introduced the Pharmaceutical Regulation Conflict of Interest Act to slow the revolving door between pharmaceutical companies and federal agencies, and help ensure that conflicts of interest do not erode the effectiveness of pharmaceutical regulators at the expense of patients and public safety.

In addition, Senator Baldwin joined 14 of her Senate colleagues last week to introduce the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, which would invest an additional $45 billion in local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.