Senator Rob Portman talking to local drug addiction officials about the resurgence of overdoses since the pandemic began.
Portman met with members of the Hancock County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services on the impact of COVID-19 on drug addiction treatment. In a recent Washington Post report, the state of Ohio has seen increases in both fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses in the months of March, April, and May of this year, compared to the same months in 2019. The pandemic has temporarily allowed telehealth services to be used to help people battling addiction. Portman is working on making this option permanent with new legislation.
“About a month ago we pass legislation, the CARES Act, which allowed it on a short-term basis, and I was part of that process and helped get that into that bill,” says Sen. Rob Portman. “Now I want to make it prominent and that's what they support here. Because they think that's a positive that in this dark cloud the only silver lining really is that we've learned that telehealth can work, for mental health and for substance abuse.”
Portman also took a tour at the Ford Engine Plant Wednesday morning. He says he was impressed by the safety measures they have taken because of COVID-19 and how efficient the plant is running. He also talked to them about how the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA) could add more work to the Lima plant.
“It requires a certain amount of content to produce in North America. It makes it clear that is going to be kind of a minimum wage in Mexico, $16 an hour, which helps move some lose jobs back here,” adds Portman. “There's an independent International Trade Commission study saying that we are going to add 20,000 new auto jobs. Well, Ohio's the number to auto state the country we need to get to number one.”
Portman also says Ford is looking to bring more work to the plant, but they are facing the challenge of getting the workforce needed for that work.
