Blog: City Blog

Mayor Rogero discusses opioid epidemic in Washington, D.C.

Mayor Madeline Rogero joined Mayor Steve Williams (Huntington, W. Va.) and Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson (Gary, Ind.) in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 10 for a Congressional briefing, "Cities and the Opioid Crisis: A Mayor’s Perspective,” hosted by the National League of Cities (NLC).

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia opened the event and explained how policy makers have shifted away from only focusing on arrests and criminalization to understanding that addiction is a disease.

Mayor Rogero shared Knoxville's collaborative approach, highlighting the work of the Metro Drug Coalition (MDC) and the upcoming meeting of community leaders planned with key stakeholders and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.

Mayor Rogero joins Mayor Steve Williams (Huntington, W. Va.) and Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson (Gary, Ind.) in Washington, D.C., for a Congressional briefing.

Mayor Rogero and Mayor Williams also met separately with Sen. Manchin and other key Senators and staff that have worked on recent legislation around opioid issues. Meetings included Senate Appropriations staff, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

Sen. Alexander has had a key role in opioid legislation and explained the complicated and bipartisan efforts to pull together various agendas and ideas into one comprehensive package known as the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. In addition, Congress has authorized $8.5 billion over two years towards programs ranging from prevention to treatment.

Mayor Rogero and Sen. Lamar Alexander engage in discussion about the opioid crisis.

The Mayors emphasized cities and local communities are on the front line and encouraged Senators and staff to consider input from the local level when making programmatic and funding decisions. In addition, they shared that any time funds can be directly distributed to local governments, the money goes to work more quickly.

NLC hosted a Mayors’ Institute on opioids in May and released a report emphasizing state and local strategies to address and mitigate this crisis. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.

Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin discusses local issues with Mayor Rogero and Mayor Williams.

Capito

Sen. Shelly Moore Capito hosts Mayor Rogero and Mayor Williams in her office.

Posted by On 12 October, 2018 at 2:18 PM