15% Local Share
Where do these monies live?
Alaska’s 15% local share is distributed to Anchorage, Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Juneau City and Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Kodiak Island Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and Wasilla.[1]
Note: This allocation applies to the grand majority, but not all, of Alaska’s opioid settlements.[2]
What can this share be spent on?
Alaska follows the national settlement agreements’ default provisions. This means that with limited exceptions, this share must be spent on the uses described the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the counties and boroughs will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.
For example, Anchorage describes the city’s health department as the “steward” for its settlement funds and convening agency for the Anchorage Community Opioid Response Network, a “coalition of community organizations, youth, adults, and governmental and tribal agencies.”[4]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Alaska does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of funds from the 15% local share. This means that local governments may spend funds from their 15% share in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Up to each locality (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
See Statewide Opioid Settlement Funding Updates & Opportunities. Alaska Department of Health press release. April 18, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“nine political subdivisions signed on to the global settlement agreement that would allow them to govern how their funds would be distributed and to receive funds directly from the settlement administrator. ‘Political subdivision’ is a term used in the settlement to describe affected communities with populations of 10,000 or more (Municipality of Anchorage, City of Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Juneau City and Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Kodiak Island Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough and City of Wasilla”); Landmark Opioid Agreement Receives Final Approval. Alaska Department of Law press release. March 1, 2022. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Fifteen percent of Alaska’s $58 million will be directed to the nine political subdivisions that participated in the agreement. The remainder will be used to help Alaska and its people recover from the effects of opioid abuse and addiction. The state’s Opioid Advisory Council will make recommendations about how the funds should be allocated”). See also Recommendations for the Use of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Distributors National Opioid Settlement Funds, Page 6 (“Funding for Alaska”). Alaska Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation. November 1, 2022. Accessed August 29, 2024 ↑
See, e.g., NOAT II Notice of Abatement Distribution – Alaska, Attachment A. National Opioid Abatement Trust II. January 13, 2023. Accessed August 29, 2024 (70% regional, 30% non-regional apportionments). See OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Global Settlement Tracker. ↑
See, e.g., Distributor Settlement Agreement, Sec. I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
Anchorage Community Opioid Response Network – Anchorage Health Department. Municipality of Anchorage website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
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