45-55% Sliding State Fund Share
Where do these monies live?
The state government’s 45-55% share is held in the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund and State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund.[1] (The Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund holds the regions’ and state’s combined 85% share of settlement funds.[2]) Funds are disbursed from the greater Clearing Trust Fund to the State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund according to legislative appropriations.[3]
Note: The exact percentage size of this share depends on the year. It begins at 45.05% in 2022 and increases to 55.25% from 2037 onward.[4]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[5] this share must be spent on the uses described Exhibit A (“Core Strategies”) and Exhibit B (“Approved Uses”) of Florida’s Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement.[6] Combined, Exhibits A and B are identical to the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[7]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement guides, state legislature decides (in coordination with the governor), state departments administer and oversee. Florida’s state share is appropriated by its state legislature to state agencies and other entities.[8] This includes appropriations for the governor’s settlement spending plan, which established the Office of Opioid Recovery and expanded the Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) network.[9] The Florida Department of Children and Families’ Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health oversees uses of this share.[10]
The Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement created within the Department of Children and Families is tasked with advising both the state and local governments on their opioid settlement spend.[11]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Florida does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the funds from its state share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). View the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement’s annual reports on the Florida Opioid Settlements Portal. State agencies, counties, municipalities, and managing entities in receipt of settlement funds are required to report planned and actual expenditures to the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement,[12] who must then publish an annual expenditure report on its website.[13]
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
Fla Stat. Secs. 17.42(1) (establishing the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund within the Florida Department of Financial Services), 20.195(11)(a) (establishing the State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund within the Florida Department of Children and Families). ↑
Fla Stat. Secs. 17.42(2) (providing that the Clearing Trust Fund holds all payments received by the state from opioid-related settlements), (3)(a) (providing that the regional subfund consists of 35-47% of such payments), (3)(b) (providing that the state subfund consists of “all remaining funds after funds allocated for the regional subfund are deposited”). ↑
The Settlement Trust Fund contains only the funds transferred to it via legislative appropriation and is not explicitly required to contain the full 45-55% state share. Fla Stat. Secs. 17.42(5) (providing that the Department of Financial Services “disburse funds from the state subfund, by nonoperating transfer, of the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund to the opioid settlement trust funds of the various agencies, as appropriate, as provided in the General Appropriations Act”), 20.195(11)(b) (“The Department of Financial Services shall annually transfer, by nonoperating transfer, the amount specified in the General Appropriations Act from its Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund to the department’s State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund”). See also Fla Stat. Secs. 20.195(c) (providing that unused funds from the State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund within the Department of Children and Families revert to the Clearing Trust Fund at the end of the year), (d) (providing that the State Opioid Settlement Trust Fund within the Department of Children and Families “unless terminated sooner, shall be terminated on July 1, 2027,” and requiring the Florida state legislature to review the trust fund in accordance with state law). ↑
Fla Stat. Secs. 17.42(3)(a) (describing regional subfund sliding scale: from 47% in 2022-27 to 35% in 2037, with this being a percentage of the 85% of Florida’s total opioid settlement funds that are held in the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund), (b) (“The state subfund shall be funded with all remaining funds after funds allocated for the regional subfund are deposited”). ↑
Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Secs. B.1 (“all Opioid Funds shall be utilized for Approved Purposes” excepting administrative costs, attorneys’ fees, and Medicaid claw-back costs), A.1 (defining “Approved Purposes”). See also Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Secs. B.4 (“Funds due the federal government, if any … will be subtracted from only the State and Regional Funds”), B.7 (“The State may take no more than a 5% administrative fee from the State Fund and any Regional Fund that it administers for counties that are not Qualified Counties”). ↑
Florida’s definition of “Approved Purposes” notably includes “strategies, programming and services used to … decrease the oversupply of licit and illicit opioids.” Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Sec. A.1. This language, which differs from the national settlement agreements, potentially allows for greater law enforcement uses of funds from this share. ↑
Fla Stat. Sec. 17.42(5) (“The department [of financial services] shall disburse funds from the state subfund, by nonoperating transfer, of the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund to the opioid settlement trust funds of the various agencies, as appropriate, as provided in the General Appropriations Act”). See, e.g., 2023 Annual Report. Florida Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement. December 1, 2023. Accessed August 19, 2024 (“The Legislature appropriates the State Funds to the Department [of Children and Families] through the GAA”); 2023 Florida SB 2500 (appropriations); 2024 Florida HB 5001 (appropriations). ↑
See Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis Announce Plans for $205.7 Million Opioid Settlement Agreement. Florida governor press release. February 17, 2023. Accessed August 19, 2024. See also 2023 Florida SB 2500 (appropriations). ↑
Overview About the settlement. Florida Opioid Settlement website. Accessed August 19, 2024 (“The Florida Department of Children and Families’ Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health is the State Opioid Treatment Authority, and as such will oversee statewide prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts utilizing the settlement funds. Additionally, the Department will establish the Office of Recovery to lead cross-agency collaborations and community partnerships that will implement strategies and expand programs to serve Florida communities”). ↑
Fla Stat. Sec. 397.355(4)(a). ↑
Fla Stat. Secs. 397.355(4)(e) (“By June 30 of each year, each county, municipality, managing entity, or state agency that receives settlement funds from an opioid settlement shall provide information to the council related to how it intends to use settlement funds and how it intends to collect data regarding its use of funds”), (f) (“By August 31 of each year, each county, municipality, managing entity, or state agency that receives settlement funds from an opioid settlement must provide information to the council related to its expenditure of settlement funds and the results obtained from those expenditures”). See also Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Secs. B.6(h)-(i). ↑
Fla Stat. Secs. 397.355(4)(i) (“By each December 1, the council shall provide and publish an annual report. The report shall contain information on how settlement moneys were spent the previous fiscal year by the state, each of the managing entities, and each of the counties and municipalities. The report shall also contain recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, and local governments for how moneys should be prioritized and spent in the coming fiscal year to respond to the opioid epidemic”), (j). ↑
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