Republican Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says if elected governor he would push for mandatory K-12 anti-drug education as part of the state's efforts to fight the opioid epidemic. And unlike Republican Governor John Kasich, DeWine says he would follow the call of Democrats and others to release state rainy day funds to aid in the opioid fight. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.
The state is seeing a shortfall in tax revenues right now, and Kasich’s administration is going through the proposed upcoming budget to find out what programs won’t be getting as much money as originally planned.
Many have questioned how that might impact the state’s fight against opioid addiction.
Attorney General Mike DeWine, a contender for governor next year, nodded his head when asked if he would resort to using the rainy day fund in order to bring more assistance to the epidemic.
DeWine: “Let’s just say we have a crisis, we need to deal with the crisis.”
Kasich has repeatedly resisted calls to use the rainy day fund. He’s says Ohio’s efforts against opioid abuse have been mostly funded by Medicaid dollars on the federal level.
