Advisory Bodies
Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?
Yes. The Maine Recovery Council (Council) was created by state law to direct spending from the 50% share held in the Maine Recovery Fund and ensure spending complies with the terms of Maine’s MOUs.[1] The Council is additionally responsible for facilitating collaboration across the state, local governments, Regional Councils,[2] and other key stakeholders,[3] in addition to developing a “centralized public dashboard” to publish the Recovery Fund’s expenditures.[4]
The Council is required to meet at least twice each calendar year, either in person or remotely,[5] but in practice has met monthly.[6] The Council is also required to host at least one meeting each year to provide “a public forum through which the Council can receive input from stakeholders and the public.”[7] The Council’s regular meetings are open to the public,[8] and details on past and upcoming meetings can be found here.
Decisions are made by consensus.[9] The Council’s standing subcommittees include an Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Governance Committee, and the Programs, Needs, Grants, Planning, and Collaboration Committee,[10] as well as an ad hoc Prevention Workgroup.[11] The Council is empowered to create additional subcommittees “as it deems appropriate.”[12]
Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?
Unclear. The Maine Attorney General is required by the state’s settlement MOU to appoint an individual or family member “impacted by the Opioid Crisis,” as well as an individual with “substance use disorder and recovery community experience.”[13] There is no further elaboration on how “impacted by” and “experience” are understood or defined.
What is the overall membership of the state advisory body?
The Maine Recovery Council includes fifteen (15) members, eleven (11) of whom are required by Maine’s MOUs and the remainder (4) by state law:
Four (4) members selected by litigating cities and/or counties (“subdivision members”)[14]
Four (4) “state members”:
Two (2) members appointed by the Governor[15]
Speaker of the House or their designee[16]
President of the Senate or their designee[17]
Three (3) “public members” appointed by the Attorney General
“An individual or family member “impacted by the Opioid Crisis”[18]
An individual with “substance use disorder and recovery community experience”[19]
Public health expert in treatment and/or prevention[20]
Four (4) additional members appointed by legislative leaders:[21]
Medical professional “with direct experience providing medication-assisted treatment” appointed by the President of the Senate[22]
Member “representing reentry services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families” appointed by the President of the Senate[23]
Member “representing a nonprofit community-based provider of mental health treatment” appointed by the Speaker of the House[24]
Member “representing the harm reduction community” appointed by the Speaker of the House[25]
Members of the Council may serve no more than two (2) consecutive two-year terms (i.e., no more than four (4) consecutive years).[26] Current Maine Recovery Council members are listed here.
Are local governments required to establish a settlement advisory body? If so, are local advisory bodies required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?
No (up to each locality). Local governments in Maine are not required to establish opioid settlement advisory bodies, but they may choose to do so. For example, Franklin County formed an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee to develop a grantmaking process and recommend expenditures to county commissioners.[27]
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(2). See Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds (“2022 Maine Settlement MOU”), Sec. III (“Duties”); Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023 (“2023 Maine Settlement MOU”), Sec. III (“Duties”). ↑
“Regional Councils” are not specific to the opioid settlements in Maine. Rather, they operate as regional councils of governments that support planning and coordination across a range of issue areas. ↑
2022 Maine Settlement MOU, Sec. III (“Transparency”); 2023 Maine Settlement MOU, Sec. III (“Transparency”). See generally Emily Bader. Maine attorney general announces resource center to aid local opioid settlement spending. The Maine Monitor. July 3, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (reporting on Maine AG’s forthcoming “resource center,” which “will help the subdivisions conduct comprehensive needs assessments, plan evidence-based programs, develop measurable objectives for their spending,” in addition to creating “publicly available ‘community profiles’ and a data dashboard”) (emphasis added). ↑
See Maine Recovery Council Calendar. Office of the Main Attorney General website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Sec. 4.2 (January 31, 2024). ↑
Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Sec. 4.2 (January 31, 2024). ↑
Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Secs. 6.1-6.6. See also Maine Recovery Council Members. Office of the Maine Attorney General website. Accessed September 1, 2024 (details on members of each committee). ↑
See, e.g., Prevention Workgroup agendas included alongside some but not all the Council’s meetings here. ↑
Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Sec. 6.1 (January 31, 2024). ↑
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(3)(A). ↑
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(3)(B). ↑
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(3)(C). ↑
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(3)(D). ↑
Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Bylaws -Draft 2024. Franklin County, Maine. Accessed September 1, 2024. See also Opioid Settlement Funds; Franklin County, Maine website. Accessed September 1, 2024; Emily Bader. Franklin County hopes to start distributing opioid settlement money by the end of the year. The Maine Monitor. September 25, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
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