85% Opioid Settlement Fund Share
Where do these monies live?
The Opioid Settlement Fund holds 85% of Connecticut’s opioid settlement funds.[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on abatement uses consistent with the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[3]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Subcommittees and stakeholders recommend, Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee (OSAC) decides, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services administers and oversees. The Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee,[4] which ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share,[5] consults recommendations from several stakeholders and subcommittees — including Yale’s Connecticut Opioid REsponse (CORE) Initiative[6] — before approving allocations of the Opioid Settlement Fund.[7] The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHA) then disburses funds and oversees their uses.[8]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
Yes, supplantation is prohibited. State law explicitly states that the Opioid Settlement Fund’s expenditures “shall be supplemental to, and shall not supplant or take the place of, any other funds … that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes.”[9] Connecticut goes a step further by requiring the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to submit a letter each year to the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee verifying that funds appropriated from the Opioid Settlement Fund in that fiscal year’s budget for “substance use disorder abatement infrastructure, programs, services, supports, and resources for prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction” are not less than the funds appropriated and allocated from the previous fiscal year’s budget for those purposes.[10]
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). You can view “Approved Funding Recommendation” documents on the Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee’s website. The Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee is also required to submit an annual report to the Connecticut General Assembly that summarizes its activities and expenditures from the Opioid Settlement Fund share,[11] and the Commissioner of Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is required to publish the report on the department’s website.[12]
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
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(a)-(b). See also Letter to State Legislative Leaders “Re: Opioid Distributors/Johnson & Johnson Settlement.” Office of the Attorney General of Connecticut. August 3, 2021 (“The proceeds of the settlement will be distributed as follows: 85% will be distributed to the state and 15% to municipalities who sign on to the settlement agreements. (The 85% distributed to the state consists of 70% for prospective abatement efforts only, and the remaining 15% is intended for abatement generally)”). ↑
See, e.g., Conn. Gen. Stat. Secs. 17a-674c(f)(8) (describing allowable administrative expenses and attorneys’ fees uses), (g)(2) (describing costs “to refund to the federal government a portion of the proceeds”). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(f) (“Moneys in the fund shall be spent only for the following substance use disorder abatement purposes, in accordance with the controlling judgment, consent decree or settlement, as confirmed by the Attorney General's review of such judgment, consent decree or settlement and upon the approval of the committee and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management”). Although Connecticut state law enumerates its own list of allowable abatement purposes, these are understood to function as a summary of the national settlement agreements’ “Exhibit E,” which “provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses.” Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS. See also Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee’s website, which links to Exhibit E as its “List of Opioid Remediation Uses.” ↑
The Committee is co-chaired by DMHAS and a municipal representative. Bylaws Article II Sec. 3. ↑
After the state Attorney General has confirmed that the use “is in accordance with the controlling judgment, consent decree or settlement” and approval from the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(f). ↑
Julie Parry. Amid Opioid Overdose Crisis, Yale Program in Addiction Medicine Advises State on Drug Company Settlement Spending. Yale School of Medicine website. April 30, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024 (“faculty and staff from the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine of the Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health, comprising the Connecticut Opioid REsponse (CORE) Initiative, recently released a 66-page report outlining evidence-based funding priorities to advise the Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee (OSAC) on distribution of opioid settlement funds”). See also Introduction and Approval of Opioid Remediation Recommendations. Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. July 11, 2023. Accessed August 12, 2024 (describing CORE report as just one type of stakeholder input). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674d(f)(1)-(3). More specifically, the OSAC’s Referral Subcommittee summarizes input from stakeholders and reviews recommendations with the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Policy Council (ADPC). The ADPC submits prioritized recommendations to the OSAC’s Research/Data Subcommittee, who determines if the recommendation is an evidence-based or promising practice, and if evaluation is needed. If the recommendation is an evidence-based or promising practice, the OSAC Finance/Compliance Subcommittee determines whether the recommendation is an allowable use. If so, the recommendation is reported to the full OSAC, who votes on the recommendation. If approved by the OSAC, the recommendation goes to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) for approval. After approval from both OSAC and OPM, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services contracts with the provider (the state attorney general’s office reviews contract language). See Introduction and Approval of Opioid Remediation Recommendations. Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. July 11, 2023. Accessed August 12, 2024. See also Andrew Brown. CT OKs $8M in opioid settlement money for a range of services. CT Mirror. May 14, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024 (“Any proposal for how the money should be used has to go through a multi-step process before it can be approved by the full advisory committee. And even then, the committee has shown reluctance to dole out the money too quickly”). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(g)(5) (“fund disbursements shall be made by the commissioner upon approval of the committee. The commissioner shall not make or refuse to make any disbursement allowable under this subsection without the approval of the committee. The commissioner shall adhere to the committee’s decisions regarding disbursement of moneys from the fund, provided such disbursement is a permissible expenditure under this section. The commissioner’s role in the distribution of moneys after the distribution has been approved by the committee and after the review and approval required under subsection (f) of this section shall be ministerial and shall not be discretionary”). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-674c(g)(6) (“Moneys expended from the fund … shall be supplemental to, and shall not supplant or take the place of, any other funds, including, but not limited to, insurance benefits or local, state or federal funding, that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes”). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(g)(6). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674f(a). ↑
Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674f(b). ↑
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