State Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, said the legislators have started a discussion on how to create a coordinated response to address the heroin epidemic.
“The federal government does bits and pieces but no one does overall (planning) on how do we get more beds, more treatment and those things that we know work,” she said.
Turner has introduced legislation in the House that would allow Medicaid or federal grants to reimburse agencies for substance abuse treatment of those incarcerated or in community-based programs, and the costs to treat newborns exposed to opioids and other addictive substances in pregnant women.
In remarks after the lawmakers closed-door meeting, Turner said he believes sequestration, or a decade of automatic defense budget cuts reached under the Budget Control Act of 2011 will be set aside for a fourth year.
He also said he believed the next White House administration will have a base realignment and closure process (BRAC) on a “to-do list,” particularly if sequestration is resolved.
“The problem we have had with sequestration is it has in effect been an uncoordinated BRAC,” the congressman said. “With BRAC you have a commission, you have legislative input, and sequestration has reduced funding that has caused (the Defense Department) to make decisions that have not had the oversight that we give in the BRAC process.”
Turner said the Dayton region “has always been a winner in BRAC. This BRAC will have some greater risks to us and it’s probably going to be not just intraservice but interservice so we’ll be competing against (other service branches).”
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