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]
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.
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]
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.
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.
Not applicable.
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. ↑
The state government’s combined 85% share is held in a state fund and accounted for separately from its general funds.[1]
Note: This allocation applies to the grand majority, but not all, of Alaska’s opioid settlements.[2]
Alaska follows the national settlement agreements’ default provisions. This means that with limited exceptions, this share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.
Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation recommends, Opioid Settlement Steering Committee guides, state legislature and Department of Health decide. The Department of Health (DOH) requests inclusions in the governor’s proposed budget after consulting the Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation’s (GACOR) annual recommendations.[4] If DOH declines to follow a recommendation from GACOR, it must inform the Governor’s office and GACOR in writing.[5] The Alaska state legislature ultimately appropriates these monies to DOH.[6]
In June 2023, DOH requested authorization for its Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention to spend $460,000 in settlement funds to implement GACOR’s recommendations.[7] In April 2024, the Division of Public Health announced its Statewide Opioid Settlement Grants Program to distribute this $460,000 to community recipients.[8]
The Opioid Settlement Steering Committee (OSSC), created in response to GACOR’s 2022 recommendations,[9] helps DOH’s Division of Public Health distribute funds to communities.[10]
The state’s enacted 2024 Legislature Operating Budget included $4.39 million in opioid settlement appropriations to the Department of Health’s Division of Public Health, with $3.3 million allocated for grants.[11] The budget indicates this will be a recurring appropriation for fiscal years 2025-2040.
Supplantation is partially prohibited (grant condition). Although Alaska does not have a generally applicable prohibition on supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds, the Alaska Department of Health’s FY 2025 Statewide Opioid Settlement Grants Request for Proposals states that the Department will not fund existing services and programs and that it “cannot supplant current funds,” only “support new efforts.”[12] This means that grantees may only use their awarded opioid settlement funds in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing resources.
No (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.
Not applicable.
See, e.g., 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”); Memorandum re: “Preparation for the June 28, 2023 LB&A Meeting”. From Alexei Painter, Director, to Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. June 26, 2023. Accessed August 29, 2024 (Department of Health request for appropriations of settlement funds, with fund source noted as “Statutory Designated Program Receipts (1108)”); Fund Source Report for 1108 Statutory Designated Program Receipts. Accessed August 29, 2024 (noting legal authority as AS 37.05.146); Alaska Stat. 37.05.146(b)(3) (providing that “designated program receipts,” defined as “money received by the state from a source other than the state or federal government that is restricted to a specific use by the terms of a gift, grant, bequest, or contract,” are to be “accounted for separately, and appropriations from these program receipts are not made from the unrestricted general fund”). ↑
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”). See also Request for Proposals Statewide Opioid Settlement Grants For FY2025, Sec. 1.06. State of Alaska Department of Health – Public Health. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Attachment A (named Exhibit E of the National Opioid Settlement) outlines the approved abatement uses. Applicants may request funding for any of the listed services and initiatives”). ↑
Alaska Admin. Or. No. 324 (“By December 1 of each calendar year, the Advisory Council shall deliver a report to the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services, including [i]nput and recommendations regarding how to manage and allocate opioid remediation funds … [r]ecommendations for a process … for receiving input from communities regarding remediation strategies and responses to their specific opioid remediation needs … [and] [r]ecommendations to implement efficient, evidence-based approaches to opioid remediation statewide”). See also Department of Health and Social Services website. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“Governor Dunleavy’s Executive Order 121 (EO 121) to restructure the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) into two departments became law March 19, 2022. The two departments” — Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Family and Community Services (DFCS) — “are legally operating entities as of July 1, 2022”). See, e.g., Statewide Opioid Settlement Funding Updates & Opportunities. Alaska Department of Health press release. April 18, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“In line with the 2022 GACOR recommendations and the final settlement agreement, the Opioid Settlement Steering Committee (OSSC) was formed to help guide the distribution of funds to communities. Based on their findings and recommendations, the Department of Health has requested an increase in the FY2025 Governor Amended budget for the amount of settlement funds authorized to the Department to support prevention, treatment, recovery and other remediation strategies, as laid out in the final settlement agreement”). See also Recommendations for the Use of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Distributors National Opioid Settlement Funds, Pages 7-8. Alaska Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation. November 1, 2022. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“The council recommends… Assigning responsibility for the allocation and distribution of funds to the Alaska Department of Health”). ↑
Alaska Admin. Or. No. 324 (“Within three months after receiving the Advisory Council’s annual report, the Commissioner shall deliver a report to the Advisory Council on the status of the recommendations set forth in the report. The Commissioner shall notify the Office of the Governor and the Advisory Council in writing if the Department disagrees with an Advisory Council recommendation. The Commissioner may extend the time allowed to respond based upon administrative necessity by providing written notice to the Advisory Council”). ↑
See Memorandum re: “Preparation for the June 28, 2023 LB&A Meeting”. From Alexei Painter, Director, to Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. June 26, 2023. Accessed August 29, 2024; 2024 Legislature - Operating Budget Transaction Change Detail - Enacted Structure for Department of Health, Page 55. Alaska Legislative Finance Division. July 15, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 (appropriating $4.39 million to the Department of Health to “Utilize the Opioid Settlement to Combat the Opioid Epidemic”). ↑
See, e.g., Memorandum re: “Preparation for the June 28, 2023 LB&A Meeting”. From Alexei Painter, Director, to Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. June 26, 2023. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“DOH is requesting $460,000 of the fund be appropriated to Public Health’s Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention (OSMAP) for FY2024 to meet the intended use of the funds and engage with communities to implement prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery strategies that decrease deaths attributed to opioid overdose. If this appropriation is not approved, the Department of Health will not be able to meet GACOR recommendations as outlined in AO324. If approved for FY2024, funds will be used to implement the GACOR recommendations and add to existing federal funding to develop a comprehensive response to opioid addiction”). ↑
See Statewide Opioid Settlement Funding Updates & Opportunities. Alaska Department of Health press release. April 18, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“In FY2024, $460,000 was allocated to the Division of Public Health for redistribution to communities to address opioid remediation. In line with the 2022 GACOR recommendations and the final settlement agreement, the Opioid Settlement Steering Committee (OSSC) was formed to help guide the distribution of funds to communities”). ↑
See, e.g., Recommendations for the Use of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Distributors National Opioid Settlement Funds, Pages 7. Alaska Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioid Remediation. November 1, 2022. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“Creat[e] a robust, cross-sector steering committee tasked with review of draft funding announcements and proposals/applications from entities”). ↑
Statewide Opioid Settlement Funding Updates & Opportunities. Alaska Department of Health press release. April 18, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 (“In line with the 2022 GACOR recommendations and the final settlement agreement, the Opioid Settlement Steering Committee (OSSC) was formed to help guide the distribution of funds to communities”). See also Theresa Welton. Implementing the Opioid Settlements Funds in Alaska, Slide 21. State of Alaska Department of Health. AML Local Government Conference. December 7, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“GACOR was the how of the Opioid Settlement funds, the Steering Committee is the who and what. The Steering committee is made up of 8 voting member with two co-chairs. … The steering committee has met 3 times since Sept 30th, 2023 and meets at least once a month”). ↑
2024 Legislature - Operating Budget Transaction Change Detail - Enacted Structure for Department of Health, Page 55. Alaska Legislative Finance Division. July 15, 2024. Accessed August 29, 2024 ↑
Request for Proposals Statewide Opioid Settlement Grants For FY 2025. State of Alaska Department of Health – Public Health. Accessed September 1, 2024 (download “Attachment B Written Inquiries.pdf,” see Question/Answer #1: "As this is for a new grant period, we would not be using the grant to pay for efforts already completed with other funds. Could you please explain what the authors of the RFP intended to avoid?” “We will not pay for existing services/programs but can certainly fund existing staff to support this [new grant] program. We will not pay for existing services, but if your agency us expanding on those existing services, say to allow more clients, a new region, we can support that. We can support new efforts, or the expansion of existing efforts, but we cannot supplant current funds”); Request for Proposals Statewide Opioid Settlement Grants For FY2025, Sec. 1.06. State of Alaska Department of Health – Public Health. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“This funding cannot be used to backfill existing efforts”). ↑
Here are the entities that ultimately decide how each of Alaska’s opioid settlement shares are spent:
85% state share: Alaska state legislature and Alaska Department of Health
15% local share: decisionmakers for boroughs and cities