40% State Share
Where do these monies live?
The State-Directed Opioid Settlement Fund (“State Fund”) holds the state’s 40% share of opioid settlement funds.[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on the uses described in Exhibit A of Idaho’s opioid settlement allocation agreement,[3] which is identical to the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, Schedule B (“Approved Uses”) and includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[4]
Idaho’s agreement reiterates the national settlement agreements’ requirement that at least 70% of the state’s opioid settlement funds overall be spent on prospective abatement purposes but does not assign specific abatement thresholds to each share.[5]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Idaho Behavioral Health Council guides, state legislature and governor decide. Idaho’s State Fund is appropriated by its state legislature to state agencies based on requests from the governor.[6]
The Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) describes a multi-step decision-making process:
IBHC solicits input from state agencies and the public.[7]
IBHC votes on priority recommendations and submits them to the governor (these recommendations are available on IBHC’s website).[8]
The governor then incorporates the IBHC’s recommendations into state agencies’ budgets,[9] which the legislature then approves and appropriates.[10]
The state may also coordinate with participating local governments and public health districts to collect information about successful programs and share best practices.[11]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Idaho does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 40% 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 “Funded by the Legislature” resource for each fiscal year on the Idaho Behavioral Health Council’s website. You can also view annual financial reports and non-remediation use reports on the Idaho Attorney General’s website. Idaho’s opioid settlement allocation agreement requires the Idaho Attorney General to post on its website an annual report of expenditures from the 40% state share.[12]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
The IBHC’s recommendations inform more than just settlement spend. For example, based on the IBHC’s recommendations for Fiscal year 2024, “[t]he Legislature funded almost $90 million in behavioral health initiatives,” with only “approximately $2 million provided annually by the state-directed opioid settlement fund.”[13]
In an August 2023 legal opinion, the Idaho Attorney General noted that settlement funds “be spent [only] on ‘persons with OUD and any co-occurring [substance use disorder/mental health (SUD/MH) conditions,” and that “if a person suffers from SUD, but it is a non-opioid addiction, then funding for that person’s care does not qualify.”[14]
Citations
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Secs. B.1, B.3; and Idaho Code Secs. 57-825(1) (“There is hereby established in the state treasury the state-directed opioid settlement fund, to be managed by the state treasurer, Moneys in the fund shall consist of:”), (1)(a) (“Moneys received by the state of Idaho pursuant to settlements and judgments obtained by the state relating to opioids”). ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Secs. B.3 (share is deposited “after payment of attorney’s fees and costs to the State’s outside counsel as provided in Section C”), C.4(a) (“As a means of covering any deficiencies in payment for outside counsel retained by the State specifically for Opioid Litigation, five percent (5%) of the State Share and five percent (5%) of the HD Share from the National Settlements and Future Resolutions not exempt under Section C.7 shall be sent to outside counsel prior to payment to the State-Directed Opioid Settlement Fund and the Public Health District Fund. No funds from the LG Share shall be used to pay attorney’s fees for outside counsel for the State”), C.4(c) (“Any remaining funds in the account in excess of the amounts needed to cover the deficiency in attorney’s fees as provided in this Section shall revert back to the State Share and HD Share”), C.7 (providing that Section C’s attorneys’ fees and costs provisions do not apply to monies obtained from Purdue, Mallinckrodt, or “other future resolutions”). ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Secs. B.2 (“All Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation, shall only be utilized for Approved Purposes”), A.2 (“‘Approved Purpose(s)’ shall mean those uses identified in the agreed Opioid Abatement Strategies attached as Exhibit A”); Idaho Code Sec. 57-825(2) (“must be used only in accordance with the terms of the applicable settlement or judgment and for purposes relating to opioid abuse prevention and recovery programs”). ↑
The national settlement agreement’s “Approved Uses” list is Schedule B of its Exhibit E, a document that “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, Sec. I.SS. ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Sec. B.2 (“no less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the funds must be used for Opioid Remediation with at least seventy percent (70%) of funds used solely for future Opioid Remediation”). Note that other settlement agreements require a higher percentage of funds be spent on opioid remediation. See, e.g., CVS Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95.5% opioid remediation spending); Walgreens Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95% opioid remediation spending); Walmart Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 85% opioid remediation spending). ↑
Idaho Code Sec. 57-825(2) (“Moneys in the state-directed opioid settlement fund shall be used as determined by legislative appropriation, provided that such moneys must be used only in accordance with the terms of the applicable settlement or judgment and for purposes relating to opioid abuse prevention and recovery programs”). See also Idaho Opioid Settlement Fund (“IBHC Opioid Recommendation Process“). Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) website. Accessed August 21, 2024 (“The IBHC has no spending authority itself. Priorities from the IBHC are submitted to the Governor for incorporation into the state budget process. During this process, the Governor’s Office and the Division of Financial Management work with various state agencies to include suitable recommendations in the Governor’s budget. Final appropriation authority rests with the Legislature. The Joint Financial Appropriations Committee (JFAC) and the Legislative budget staff also review each state agency’s budget and determine how the IBHC recommendations are funded”). ↑
See Idaho Opioid Settlement Fund (“IBHC Opioid Recommendation Process“). Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) website. Accessed August 21, 2024 (for example, For FY 2025, IBHC accepted submissions via email until May 25, 2024). ↑
Idaho Code Sec. 57-825(3) (requiring the IBHC to recommend uses of State Fund monies to the Governor and Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee). ↑
Idaho Code Sec. 57-825(3) (“Such recommendations must be submitted to the governor on or before September 1 in the year before the legislative session in which the Idaho behavioral health council recommendations are presented to the joint finance-appropriations committee”). ↑
Idaho Code Sec. 57-825(2) (“Moneys in the state-directed opioid settlement fund shall be used as determined by legislative appropriation”). See also Idaho Opioid Settlement Fund (“IBHC Opioid Recommendation Process“). Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) website. Accessed August 21, 2024 (“Final appropriation authority rests with the Legislature. The Joint Financial Appropriations Committee (JFAC) and the Legislative budget staff also review each state agency’s budget and determine how the IBHC recommendations are funded. Due to the variability of funding from the opioid settlement fund and flexibility of the state budgeting process, the IBHC submits its recommendations as priority requests rather than specific budget items”). ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Sec. B.6. ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement Between the State of Idaho, Health Districts, and Eligible Local Governments, Sec. D.3. ↑
Idaho Opioid Settlement Fund (“IBHC Opioid Recommendation Process“). Idaho Behavioral Health Council (IBHC) website. Accessed August 21, 2024. ↑
Stephanie N. Guyon. “Re: State Opioid Settlement Fund Spending Guidance.” Idaho Office of the Attorney General. August 31, 2023. Accessed August 21, 2024. ↑
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