Latta reports on opioid crisis, tax reform

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

U.S. Representative Bob Latta was in Van Wert for a fundraiser on Thursday and also visited with local agencies and sat down with The Van Wert independent to talk about pending federal legislation and related activities.

The first item Latta talked about was a forum on the opioid epidemic the congressman held Thursday in Defiance. The forum included an eight-person panel — three representatives from federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and five local representatives — to discuss problems related to opioid use, provide information on what’s being done currently out to residents in the Fifth District, as well as learn what problems local agencies are facing in combatting the opioid epidemic.

“I thought we had a really good event for folks in the region,” Latta said of the forum.

The congressman, who called Ohio “ground zero” for the opioid epidemic, noted that drug-related deaths in Ohio increased by more than 1,000 people over last year, with an average of 11 drug-related deaths each day in the state.

Latta also talked about federal legislation that deals with the drug problem, including the 21st Century Cures bill that provides $1 billion for treatment and prevention services, and the Comprehensive Addiction and Rehabilitation Act (CARA), which also provides resources for education, treatment, and prevention.

In addition, Latta said he was introducing a bill that would create a national database to provide information on what’s working in the way of prevention and treatment, as well as where to find funding for drug treatment and prevention programs.

Latta also talked about a hearing a House subcommittee he chairs held on the Equifax data breach. The hearing featured testimony from Richard Smith, former Equifax CEO.

The congressman said the hearing focused on the lack of action taken by Equifax to protect Americans whose information it was supposed to safeguard, and the errors made when the company finally reacted to the data breach.

The bottom line, Latta said, was that Equifax did not do the things needed to keep people’s private information safe.

“They had a duty to protect the privacy of 145 million people and they failed,” Latta noted, adding that his own information was affected by the breach.

The congressman said tax reform is also a big focus for Congress right now, noting the issue hasn’t been addressed since 1986, when Ronald Reagan was president. In addition to easing the tax burden, Latta said the tax system itself needs to be simplified to the point where “90 percent of Americans” could do their own taxes on a postcard-size form.