Senator Rosen Submits Legislation to Increase Funding for the Office of Substance Abuse

AUGUSTA – Recognizing the successes of the State’s Office of Substance Abuse, and the need to maintain that success rate, Senator Richard Rosen, of Bucksport, has introduced a bill to increase the office’s annual funding.

Operating under the jurisdiction of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Substance Abuse is the State’s single administrative authority responsible for the planning, development, implementation, regulation, and evaluation of substance abuse services. Among other things, the office aims to provide leadership in substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment.

Sen. Rosen’s bill, LD 244: “An Act To Provide Additional Funding for the Office of Substance Abuse,” would require an additional $150,000 each year be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services that is to be used specifically for the Office of Substance Abuse. The bill has earned bipartisan support in the legislature. Senator Dennis Damon (D-Trenton) and Representatives Robert Crosthwaite (R-Ellsworth), Robert Eaton (D-Sullivan), Theodore Koffman (D-Bar Harbor), Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven), Kimberely Rosen (R-Bucksport), James Schatz (D-Blue Hill) and Lance Weddell (D-Frankfort) have all signed on as cosponsors of Sen. Rosen’s bill.

Increasing the office’s funding is imperative, according to Sen. Rosen. “The Office of Substance Abuse has been instrumental in getting people the help they need once they decide to improve their own lives,” he said. “It takes a large degree of commitment and discipline to successfully kick a dangerous habit, but I believe this office has done an excellent job of supporting those individuals throughout their difficult path to sobriety. We must provide the office with an appropriate amount of funding to maintain the great work it is doing, and to ensure that future resources will be available to help the people who have made the decision to improve their lives.”

LD 224 will receive its public hearing before the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs later in the session.

Sen. Rosen represents District 31, which includes parts of Hancock and Penobscot Counties. He can be reached in Augusta at 287-1505, in Bucksport at 469-3779, or by e-mail at rrosen113@aol.com.

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