In continuing coverage, USA Today (5/9, Szabo) reports that last “December, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., introduced the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.” This past Tuesday, however, Rep. Ron Barber, D-AZ, “introduced his own, more limited bill, supported by a handful of Democrats, called the Strengthening Mental Health in Our Communities Act of 2014.” Rep. Murphy’s bill is considered to be “more sweeping” than the competing Barber bill. Meanwhile, some advocates for people with mental illnesses are concerned that partisanship could sink the chances of passing any mental health reform legislation, while others believe both measures could provide a compromise framework.
In her “Potomac Watch” opinion column in the Wall Street Journal (5/9, A13, Subscription Publication), Kimberly A. Strassel excoriates the Barber bill as an exercise in Democratic partisanship at the expense of people with severe mental illnesses.
Related Links:
— “Congressmen introduce competing mental health bills,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, May 8, 2014.