After Securing Federal Investments, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Announces Over $2.4 Million Awarded to Wisconsin Communities to Fight the Opioid Epidemic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After leading the effort to secure federal investments for local communities to address the opioid epidemic, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today announced that $2.4 million in federal grant funding is being delivered to Wisconsin counties and tribes to support local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.

Senator Baldwin helped secure a two-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) totaling $15,273,876 for Wisconsin. This is the second year of funding provided to Wisconsin, which recently received more than $7.5 million in federal funding for FY18. The federal funds are provided by the 21st Century Cures Act that Senator Baldwin worked to pass in Congress. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recently distributed $2.4 million of those federal grant funds to Wisconsin counties and tribes.

“I’ve met with local health officials, law enforcement and first responders and it’s clear Washington needs to do more to support local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts,” said Senator Baldwin. “I have worked in a bipartisan way to make sure local communities in Wisconsin have the federal support they need to address the opioid epidemic and save lives.”

The grant recipients include:

• Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians ($75,000)
• Brown County ($113,253)
• Dane County ($184,093)
• Douglas County ($75,000)
• Green County ($75,000)
• Ho-Chunk Nation ($75,000)
• Jefferson County ($100,502)
• Kenosha County ($138,755)
• La Crosse County ($97,669)
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians ($75,000)
• Marquette County ($83,501)
• Milwaukee County ($487,288)
• Monroe County ($75,000)
• Portage County ($75,000)
• Racine County ($75,000)
• Rock County ($121,754)
• Sheboygan County ($100,502)
• St. Croix County ($50,435)
• Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians ($75,000)
• Waukesha County ($154,340)
• Winnebago County ($80,000)

Senator Baldwin recently met with law enforcement, first responders, health officials and Wisconsin residents affected by this crisis in Superior, Sturgeon Bay and Kaukauna to call for a Senate vote on new bipartisan legislation, the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, that she helped pass in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. As a member of the Senate HELP Committee, Senator Baldwin successfully worked to include in the bipartisan legislation an extension and expansion of the State Targeted Opioid Response Grant program to provide states and tribal communities more resources to address the epidemic. This bipartisan legislation passed the Senate HELP Committee in April and is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.