Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed directly to 247 cities and counties.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[2] 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.[3] Combined, Exhibits A and B are identical to the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[4]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

Localities decide autonomously (but must report plans and expenditures to the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement). Decisionmakers for the counties and municipalities will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Approved Purposes.[5] Counties and municipalities may also enter written agreements to pool their funds or assign their funds to another locality.[6]

The Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement created within the Florida Department of Children and Families is tasked with advising both the state and local governments on their opioid settlement spend.[7]

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 local 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. The state agencies, counties, municipalities, and managing entities that receive settlement funds are required to report planned and actual expenditures to the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement,[8] who must then publish an annual expenditure report on its website.[9]

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

1. Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Sec. B.4(a) (“directly” to cities and counties, with amounts designated for municipalities with populations less than 10,000 redirected to their counties). See also 2023 Annual Report. Florida Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement. December 1, 2023. Accessed August 19, 2024 (“Funds are disbursed directly to 247 cities and counties, and do not flow through the Department. … The funds are paid out to subdivisions annually in September by the Opioid Administrator”). ↑

2. 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.7 (“Municipalities and Counties may take no more than a 5% administrative fee from any funds that they receive or control from the City/County Fund”), B.12 (describing attorneys’ fee “Expense Fund” created out of “City/County” share). ↑

3. Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Secs. A.1, B.1, B.4(a). ↑

4. 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. ↑

5. Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Sec. B.4(a). See also 2023 Annual Report. Florida Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement. December 1, 2023. Accessed August 19, 2024 (“Funds are disbursed directly to 247 cities and counties, and do not flow through the Department. Cities and counties determine how funds are expended in accordance with the permissible uses outlined in the Statewide Response Agreement provided by the Office of the Attorney General”). ↑

6. Florida Opioid Allocation and Statewide Response Agreement, Sec. B.4(e) (“The comingling Municipalities shall provide a copy of that agreement to the State and any settlement administer to ensure that monies are directed consistent with such agreement. The County or Municipality receiving any such Opioid Funds shall assume the responsibility for reporting how such Opioid Funds were utilized under this Agreement”). ↑

7. Fla Stat. Sec. 397.355(4)(a). ↑

8. 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). See also 2023 Annual Report. Florida Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement. December 1, 2023. Accessed August 19, 2024 (“The Department has provided forms to allow for cities and counties to begin reporting expenditures of city/county funds. The first data reported by cities and counties will be included in the next annual report”). ↑

9. 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). ↑

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 (“Core Strategies”) and (“Approved Uses”) of Florida’s .[6] Combined, Exhibits A and B are identical to the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) , 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 to state agencies and other entities.[8] This includes appropriations for the , which established the Office of Opioid Recovery and expanded the network.[9] The ’ oversees uses of this share.[10]

The 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 . State agencies, counties, municipalities, and managing entities in receipt of settlement funds are required to report planned and actual expenditures to the ,[12] who must then publish an annual expenditure report on its website.[13]

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

1. 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). ↑

2. 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”). ↑

3. 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). ↑

4. 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”). ↑

11. Fla Stat. Sec. 397.355(4)(a). ↑

13. 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). ↑

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed directly to its 20 and the five of Florida’s 47 :[1]

• The 20 qualified counties are Brevard, Broward, Collier, Escambia, Hillsborough, Duval, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole, St. Lucie, and Volusia.[2] These counties, which receive their monies directly, meet all the following criteria:[3]

  • Have a population of 300,000 or greater[4]

  • Is a member of or operates an opioid task force[5]

  • Had an abatement plan as of December 31, 2021[6]

  • “[P]rovide[d] or contract[ed] with others to provide substance abuse prevention, recovery, and treatment services” as of December 31, 2021[7]

  • Have entered into an interlocal agreement with municipalities representing a majority of the county’s population[8]

• Non-qualified counties do not receive their monies directly. Five of the state’s seven behavioral health “managing entities,” created by state law to coordinate behavioral health services throughout the state,[9] receive monies to fund services in the 47 non-qualifying counties, as part of each managing entity’s contract with the Department of Children and Families.[10]

Note: The exact percentage size of this share depends on the year. It begins with 39.95% in 2022 and decreases to 29.75% from 2037 onward.[11]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[12] this share must be spent on the uses described (“Core Strategies”) and (“Approved Uses”) of Florida’s .[13] Combined, Exhibits A and B are identical to the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) , which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[14]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement guides, qualified counties and managing entities decide.

• The 20 who receive their monies directly ultimately decide specific expenditures for themselves, according to the terms of their interlocal agreements.[15] See, e.g., interlocal agreements from and .

• Shares belonging to the remaining 47 non-qualifying counties are paid through the (DCF) to the counties’ five managing entities, who must each “ensure that there are services in every County.”[16]

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 regional share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

11. Fla Stat. Sec. 17.42(3)(a)(1)-(5) (describing regional subfund sliding scale of 47% from 2022-2027, 41% from 2028-2030, 40% from 2031-2033, 39% from 2034-2036, and 37% from 2037 onward, with these being a percentage of the 85% of Florida’s total opioid settlement funds that are held in the Opioid Settlement Clearing Trust Fund). ↑

17. Fla Stat. Sec. 397.355(4)(a). ↑

19. 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). ↑

Here are the entities that ultimately decide how each of Florida’s opioid settlement shares are spent:

• Sliding State Fund share (45-55%):

• Sliding Regional Fund share (30-40%): either local officials of qualified counties or

• 15% City/County Fund share: decisionmakers for cities and counties