U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer has announced what he calls major victories in the bipartisan federal funding bill that will greatly help Upstate New York, including opioid and prescription drug prevention and treatment programs and funding for stream gauges to aid in flood warnings.

The opioid program provides $3.8 billion, a $35 million increase from last year, for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to address the opioid and heroin crisis affecting communities throughout New York and the rest of the nation. In each of the last two fiscal years, New York received more than $111 million from SAMHSA block grants.

The agreement also funds nearly $450 million in efforts through several departments and agencies specifically targeted to attack the opioid/heroin crisis.

Regarding the stream gauges, Schumer said that they “are a critical first line of defense against impending floods, and given the repeated storms and flooding we have seen across New York, I made boosting their funding a top priority over the last year.:

Upstate New York communities also will be better served in flood detection, prevention, and evacuation planning.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program received a $700,000 funding increase specifically for stream gauges. “Now, I will push to see those funds flow to New York, where USGS can work to keep ever-threatened gauges online, and potentially add more of these flood detection devices to high-risk flood zones in order to better prepare for the next natural disaster,” said Schumer.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a program that many in St. Lawrence County depend on, received funding of $3.39 billion.

That “will help New York’s most vulnerable cover their high energy costs”, Schumer said.

“This means fewer people will have to make the agonizing decision over whether to pay energy bills or put food on the table,” said Senator Schumer. “Having these funds available for New Yorkers who deal with harsh winters is critical.”

“Hundreds of thousands of fixed-income seniors and low-to moderate-income New Yorkers each year rely on LIHEAP funding to help pay for the home heating costs that have become a larger and larger share of their budget,” he said.