U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, who represents all of Trumbull County, reintroduced a bill to provide federal funding for state and local governments to purchase containment devices for fentanyl and other lethal substances.

The Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act of 2025 would provide funding to state and local law enforcement for the devices to safely store narcotics and preserve them for evidentiary use as well as provide subsequent training to reduce first responders’ risk of secondary exposure to lethal substances such as fentanyl, Joyce said. It would be the first federal program to provide local governments with resources to buy the containment devices.

The bill doesn’t specify a dollar amount for the federal grants.

Joyce, R-Bainbridge, said: “Police officers and first responders put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. Unfortunately, while responding to calls, they are often exposed to lethal substances such as fentanyl.”

Joyce added: “It is our duty to ensure that these men and women have all the necessary tools to keep themselves safe from these toxic drugs as they work every day to protect our communities.”

Joyce is the lead sponsor in the House along with U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. A companion bill in the Senate is sponsored by Chuck Grassley, a Louisiana Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat.

The devices identify dangerous drugs using laser technology to analyze potential harmful substances, even through some packaging, and identify those substances based on a library of thousands of compounds categorized in the device.

Joyce was the lead sponsor on the same bill introduced Feb. 2, 2023. It was moved to the House Judiciary Committee and never had a hearing.

Joyce said first responders are at risk of exposure to fentanyl and other legal substances through inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, contact with needles or contact via nose, eyes and mouth.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state fentanyl can be absorbed into the body through inhalation, oral exposure, ingestion or skin contact, but it is not known whether it can be absorbed through the eye.

The bill is endorsed by various law enforcement associations including the Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

A bill introduced by Joyce on Sept. 17, 2021, to protect U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers from accidental exposure to fentanyl and other lethal substances by providing them with drug containment devices was approved 429-0 in the House on July 13, 2022. The bill died in the Senate after being referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which never held a hearing.

That bill was reintroduced by Joyce on Feb. 2, 2023, and didn’t receive a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee.