Murray Highlights Efforts to Boost Federal Investments to Treat Addiction—Rejecting Trump Cuts, Secures $2.6 Million for Tacoma-Pierce Co. Public Health Department Mobile[...]

Murray rejected proposed cuts by the Trump administration to SAMSHA and instead boosted funding to help treat substance use disorder in our communities

Murray noted how she passed the largest bipartisan bill to tackle opioid addiction under the first Trump administration, yet now Trump is derailing much of that same work

ICYMI: Murray Secures Hundreds of Millions for Transportation & Housing Projects Across WA in Final Appropriations Bills; Boosts Funding for Medical Research, Housing, Child Care & More

***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***

Tacoma, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion with health care leaders from Pierce County to talk about how the $2.6 million she secured in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for the Tacoma-Pierce County Public Health Department is supporting mobile medical services to treat substance use disorder and help people with behavioral health issues across the county. Murray also highlighted the national investments she was able to protect and boost to help treat substance use disorder-rejecting cuts proposed by Trump.

Murray was joined by Anders Ibsen, Mayor of Tacoma; Ryan Mello, Pierce County Executive; Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Public Health, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department; Christie Steele, Street Medicine Nurse Practitioner, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department; Vickie McLaurin, City of Tacoma Neighborhood and Community Services Director; and Olga Kimbrel, Medical Reserve Corps President, MRC; Registered Nurse.

"Overdose deaths from opioids and fentanyl have been especially devastating. Our cities and public health workers are on the frontlines tackling prevention, education, and connecting patients with resources for substance use treatment and recovery. And we have made real progress nationwide-after years of overdose deaths rising higher and higher, we are finally seeing some of those numbers come back down. But we have a ways to go, and unfortunately Trump shows every day he doesn't get it. Last year he fired over 100 employees at SAMHSA. And one of the first things he tried to do this year was terminate some $2 billion in SAMHSA grants. That would have been catastrophic. I pushed back on that immediately-as did so many people-and we got it quickly reversed. And in Trump's budget last year, he called to eliminate SAMHSA entirely," said Senator Murray. "That's why I promised to rip Trump's budget in half-and that's exactly what I did. I protected SAMHSA funding, and even increased block grants for mental health, substance use, opioid response, and the 988 Lifeline-crucial investments. I also secured Congressionally Directed Spending throughout Washington state, like $2.6 million for Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department's mobile medical clinic. This is lifesaving care that will bring services directly to folks where they are. These funds will help that work reach farther and reach more people in rural areas and suburbs."

The City of Tacoma and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department launched a pilot program in October 2024, funded by a $1 million state grant, to bring clinical care, behavioral health care, and chronic condition treatment services directly to people experiencing homelessness. The care teams are composed of a medical provider, a behavioral health professional, and a community health worker.

When combining all of the Fiscal Year 2026 funding bills Murray authored and passed, she secured nearly $500 million in CDS for WA projects and has helped set aside over $5 billion in programmatic funding for Washington state.

"This $2.6 million investment directly aligns with our region's shared commitment to address substance use disorders through prevention, treatment, and recovery," said Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Public Health, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. "By expanding our low-barrier, community-based model, this funding strengthens local capacity to deliver evidence-based treatment, reduces preventable overdose deaths, and advances a public health-centered response to the opioid crisis."

Murray continues to be dedicated to finding solutions for people in Washington state and across the country to treat substance use disorder and access behavioral health care services. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in FY26, Senator Murray rejected Trump's proposed $1 billion cut to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and protected its funding, including a $5 million increase to the Mental Health Block Grant, an additional $5 million for the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Services Block Grant, a $20 million increase for State Opioid Response grants, and a $15 million increase for the 988 Lifeline.

In January, Senator Murray condemned the Trump administration's decision to terminate as many as 2,800 SAMHSA grants totaling approximately $2 billion for communities across the country to combat substance use disorder and provide mental health services. Senator Murray also joined her colleagues last October slamming the Trump administration for recklessly mass firing employees across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including threatening substance use disorder work by firing over 100 employees from SAMHSA, gutting the agency, and decimating the Division of Children and School Mental Health, leaving no staff to improve youth mental health outcomes.

Senator Murray led passage of the original SUPPORT Act as top Democrat on the HELP Committee in 2018, working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate to develop the bipartisan bill which includes a package of solutions to help address the root causes and ripple effects of the opioid crisis. The SUPPORT Act came together after months of bipartisan work from Senator Murray and her colleagues to find ways to help curb substance use disorders in communities ravaged by the opioid crisis in Washington state and across the nation. The legislation included several provisions Senator Murray fought for to support children born to mothers battling substance use disorder, including trauma-informed care programs and increased access to mental health care for children-Murray helped reauthorize her legislation last year.

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