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Republicans looking to pass legislation addressing the nation’s opioid crisis and Zika epidemic before skipping town to campaign for the summer are running into a nettlesome problem: Senate Democrats. The Senate minority blocked a $1.1 billion Zika funding proposal due to what they called “poison pill” riders earlier this week. And now, as Republicans try to wrap up House and Senate conference negotiations on fighting the spread of heroin and prescription pill addiction, Democrats are demanding that Republicans plow new funding into combating opioids. ... Democrats’ renewed demands for appropriating new spending, rather than authorizing spending but not actually providing new funds, could have serious political implications for Republicans. (Everett and Haberkorn, 6/30)

Kicking off a national tour on opioid addiction, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack brought together the governors of Tennessee and Virginia on Thursday to talk about stemming Appalachia's drug abuse epidemic. The town hall reinforced President Barack Obama's call for Congress to pump $1.1 billion more into substance abuse treatment. It also was an opportunity to show that governors of opposite parties want to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, despite Republican efforts to stop them. (Mattise, 6/30)

Drugstore giant CVS has reached a $3.5 million settlement with the federal government after investigators found that pharmacists in Massachusetts and New Hampshire filled hundreds of forged prescriptions for painkillers at the height of the opioid crisis, the US attorney’s office announced Thursday. (Wang, 6/30)

Valley Street jail Superintendent David Dionne said he will move slowly to implement a drug treatment program for his inmates, after Hillsborough County leaders this week approved the program for the coming budget year. Dionne said a last-minute cut of $70,000 will have some effect on how quickly he can get the Substance Abuse Treatment Community for Offenders, or SATCO, program operating. (Hayward, 6/30)