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Concord, N.H. - Just two days after President Trump presented no new policies on the opioid crisis in his State of the Union speech, Governor Sununu is praising the president for his "hard work" on the issue, but all evidence points to the opposite: Despite declaring a Public Health Emergency in October, Trump has yet to dedicate any additional funds to the nearly empty fund that only has $57,000 in it for the entire country. Members of the Trump-created Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission say their work is a "sham." Trump appointed a 24-year old with no experience to be the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which Trump proposed cutting by 95%. He also appointed Kellyanne Conway, with no opioid expertise, as the "opioid czar." In addition to ONDCP cuts, Trump's budget proposal recommended cutting Medicaid funding in half, a program that is estimated to cover a quarter of all drug treatment. The budget also proposes an 11% cut in drug prevention programs and a $400 million cut in the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. Trump and Sununu have both pushed for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, including $880 billion in Medicaid cuts and proposals to sunset Medicaid Expansion, which helps more than 50,000 Granite Staters with Substance Use Disorder & mental health coverage. Trump has tried to sabotage the Affordable Care Act by, among other things, refusing to complete cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that help make premiums more affordable. While Sununu said Trump "got it 100%" on the CURES Act, Trump ultimately refused to change the funding model in order to allocate resources based on per-capita overdose deaths instead of population. New Hampshire has the 2nd-highest rate of overdose rate in the country while being 41st in the nation in population. NHDP Chair Ray Buckley issued the following statement: "Rather than put pressure on Trump to make good on his promises to tackle opioids, Governor Sununu is choosing to praise the do-nothing President on one of his weakest issues in the midst of New Hampshire's crisis. Sununu says Trump is 'working hard' and 'gets it 100%' when he clearly doesn't. Since becoming president, Trump has done nothing but make the crisis worse while paying lip service to those suffering. Sununu might be enchanted by his access to the president, but he should use that access to get results for New Hampshire instead of doling out blind praise for empty assurances. Sununu claimed Trump was 'turning over every stone' to find funding, but the president would have a much easier job if he didn't spend $1.5 trillion on a corporate tax cut. If Sununu is looking for additional resources, he need not look further than the State House, where Democrats have proposed bills to fully fund the alcohol fund at 5% and dedicate $10 million to the crisis from the Rainy Day fund."
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