(This story was updated Oct. 26 at 9:25 p.m.)
[W]ASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency Thursday, but many in Vermont question whether he went far enough.
In a speech at the White House, Trump vowed to crack down on the illicit import of the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, make the overdose-reversing drug Narcan more available, and lift a 16-bed cap on the size of residential facilities that can get Medicaid funding for addiction treatment.
“As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”
“There is no action or new funding behind the president’s empty words to address this crisis,” Leahy said. “This is unacceptable.”
Trump’s proposed budget included cuts to programs that target the opioid epidemic, Leahy said, which the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also criticized Trump’s declaration as an “empty promise.”
Both referenced the budget resolution that passed both the House and Senate in the last week without any Democratic support, which would reduce federal spending on Medicaid and other programs by $1.3 trillion over the next decade.
Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement that he was pleased the president acknowledged the opioid crisis.
“While Vermont is ahead of many states on this issue, reducing red tape and other barriers to obtaining and using federal funds could help our state strengthen, scale up and promote many of the strategies and services we already have in place to support prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery,” Scott said.
Asked whether Scott believed enough federal funding was available to combat the opioid epidemic, his communications director, Rebecca Kelley, said Vermont has “benefited from a strong partnership” with the federal government and that the declaration is a “positive development.”
“That said, given the severity and scope of the problem, there will always be more that can be done to prevail in this battle, and additional federal funding would help in our efforts to expand and promote access to (medication-assisted treatment), increase workforce, improve coordination and care, and support additional initiatives,” Kelley said.
Jackie Corbally, the opioid policy coordinator for Burlington, said that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to put significant resources into combating the crisis.
“I don’t see that big money that he’s talking about,” Corbally said.
Corbally acknowledged that some of the changes to federal policy could help address the crisis and that he had put a spotlight on the issue.
“I guess he made a stance, but it wasn’t the stance that I really think that we’re going to need to really make a big dent in what we’re talking about,” Corbally said.
She noted that Trump declared a “public health emergency,” rather than a “national emergency” — a designation that would have released additional federal funding.
The president’s declaration came nearly three months after a council focused on the opioid crisis, headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, recommended he take such a step.
More federal funding is key to supporting “innovative” programs, Corbally said, which are crucial to fighting the epidemic.
“It’s not that good work isn’t happening, but we need more of the services that are being provided,” Corbally said.