25% State Share
Where do these monies live?
The state’s 25% share of settlement funds is deposited into the “settlement account” established within the Opiate Epidemic Response Fund.[1] Excepting certain set-asides,[2] including monies for Tribal agency projects that provide child protection services,[3] these “settlement account” monies are appropriated to the Minnesota Department of Human Services for distribution as grants “as specified by” the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council.[4]
What can this share be spent on?
In general, and with limited exceptions,[5] this share must be spent on the approved uses described in Exhibit A, which is identical to the national settlement agreements’ Approved Uses list (i.e., Exhibit E) and provides 13 categories of abatement strategies, programming, and services.[6] Uses of funds are restricted to future remediation activities, which prohibits reimbursement uses of opioid settlement proceeds.[7]
The Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council (Council), which directs the Commissioner of Human Services’ grantmaking of “settlement account” monies,[8] is also required by state law to focus on four specific priorities:
Prevention and education[9]
Training on the treatment of opioid use disorder[10]
Expanding the continuum of care for opioid-related substance use disorders[11]
Developing measures to assess and protect the accessibility of pain medications for those with specified conditions, including severe chronic pain[12]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council decides, Minnesota Department of Human Services administers. Excepting certain set-asides,[13] including monies for Tribal agency projects that provide child protection services,[14] this share is distributed by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) as grants based on proposals selected by the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council.[15]
“In accordance with statutory requirements, the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council works with DHS to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP); the Council makes recommendations on grant awards, and DHS awards the grants.”[16]
The Council’s grant award update from 2022 describes a process by which DHS-recruited reviewers, chosen to reflect Minnesota’s various diversities,[17] read and scored requests for proposals. These initial reviews were passed onto “a small subcommittee” tasked with making recommendations to the full Council, which reviewed and ultimately approved the recommendations of the subcommittee.[18]
The state is required to collaborate with local governments on settlement spend, “including through the sharing of expertise, training, and technical assistance,” and to coordinate with community stakeholders to share best practices.[19]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
Supplantation is partially prohibited (for Tribal social service agency initiative projects only). State law explicitly prohibits only appropriations to Tribal social service agency initiative projects from being spent to “supplant current state or local funding received for child protection services for children and families who are affected by addiction.”[20] This means that portions of the 25% state share not spent on these Tribal social service agency initiatives may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (no public reporting required, only intrastate). View annual “Grantee List” reports on the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council’s website. You can also view expenditures on the Opioid Epidemic Response Spending Dashboard.[21] State law requires the Council and DHS Commissioner to submit a report with expenditure information each year to certain legislative leaders.[22]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
In addition to the opioid “settlement account,” the state’s Opiate Epidemic Response Fund includes a registration and license fee account to hold monies drug manufacturers and wholesalers pay to do business in the state (a scheme described in Minn. Stat. Sec. 151.065 and Sec 151.066).[23]
Citations
Minn. Stat. Secs. 256.043, subd. 1(a) (“The commissioner of management and budget shall establish within the opiate epidemic response fund two accounts: … a registration and license fee account; and … a settlement account”), (c) (“shall deposit into the settlement account any money received by the state resulting from a settlement agreement … related to alleged violations of consumer fraud laws in the marketing, sale, or distribution of opioids in this state or other alleged illegal actions that contributed to the excessive use of opioids”); Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. II.B(i) (“25% directly to the State (‘State Abatement Fund’)”),. See also Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. VI.K (“Any funds that the State receives from the National Settlement Agreements as attorney fees and costs or in lieu of attorney fees and costs, including the Additional Restitution Amounts, will be treated as State Abatement Funds”). ↑
Including monies to make up the balance in the separate registration and license fee account, which is also housed in the Opiate Epidemic Response Fund, and allocations to state agencies to administer and monitor the funds. Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 3a(b)-(d). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 3a(d). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd 3a(e). ↑
Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Secs. I (“Consistent with the terms of the National Settlement Agreements and Bankruptcy Resolutions, ‘Approved Uses’ shall include the reasonable administrative expenses”), IV.C (capping administrative expenses at 10%). See also Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. VI.K (“For the avoidance of doubt, no portion of the State Abatement Fund will be used to fund the Backstop Fund or in any other way to fund any Litigating Local Government’s attorney fees and expenses”); Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 4(b) (“No more than ten percent of the grant amount [awarded by the Council] may be used by a grantee for administration”). ↑
Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Secs. I (defining “Approved Uses” to mean “forward-looking strategies, programming, and services to abate the opioid epidemic that fall within the list of uses on Exhibit A”), IV.A (“This MOA requires that Opioid Settlement Funds be utilized only for future opioid remediation activities, and Parties shall expend Opioid Settlement Funds only for Approved Uses”) See also Local Public Health Guide to Spending Opioid Settlement Funds. Minnesota Department of Health website. Accessed August 8, 2024 (“The agreement provides 13 categories of strategies (A through M) that communities can implement using opioid settlement funds as well as a list of specific examples of strategies that fall under the category”). ↑
Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. IV.A (“This MOA requires that Opioid Settlement Funds be utilized only for future opioid remediation activities, and Parties shall expend Opioid Settlement Funds only for Approved Uses and for expenditures incurred after the effective date of this MOA, unless execution of the National Settlement Agreements requires a later date”). See also Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. I (“Reimbursement by the State or Local Governments for past expenses are not Approved Uses”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 3a(e). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 1(a)(1) (“including public education and awareness for adults and youth, prescriber education, the development and sustainability of opioid overdose prevention and education programs, the role of adult protective services in prevention and response, and providing financial support to local law enforcement agencies for opiate antagonist programs”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 1(a)(2) (“training on the treatment of opioid addiction, including the use of all Food and Drug Administration approved opioid addiction medications, detoxification, relapse prevention, patient assessment, individual treatment planning, counseling, recovery supports, diversion control, and other best practices”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 1(a)(3) (“including primary prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, and aftercare services”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 1, paragraph (a)(4) (“the development of measures to assess and protect the ability of cancer patients and survivors, persons battling life-threatening illnesses, persons suffering from severe chronic pain, and persons at the end stages of life, who legitimately need prescription pain medications, to maintain their quality of life by accessing these pain medications without facing unnecessary barriers. The measures must also address the needs of individuals described in this clause who are elderly or who reside in underserved or rural areas of the state”) ↑
Including monies to make up the balance in the separate registration and license fee account, which is also housed in the Opiate Epidemic Response Fund, and allocations to state agencies to administer and monitor the funds. See Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 3a(b)-(e). See also Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 5(e) (requiring advisory council’s annual report to “include recommendations on whether the appropriations to the specified entities under Laws 2019, chapter 63, should be continued, adjusted, or discontinued; whether funding should be appropriated for other purposes related to opioid abuse prevention, education, and treatment; and on the appropriate level of funding for existing and new uses”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 3a(d). ↑
Minn. Stat. Secs. 256.042, subd.4(b); 256.043, subd 3a(e). See also Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.042, subd. 1(b)(3) (“The council shall: recommend to the commissioner of human services specific projects and initiatives to be funded”), subd. 4(a) (“The commissioner of human services shall submit a report of the grants proposed by the advisory council to be awarded for the upcoming calendar year to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services policy and finance, by December 1 of each year, beginning December 1, 2022”). ↑
Grant Award Update & Evidence-Based Analysis of Opioid Legislative Appropriations. Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council. Minnesota Department of Human Services Legislative Report. February 2022. Accessed August 12, 2024. ↑
Grant Award Update & Evidence-Based Analysis of Opioid Legislative Appropriations. Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council. Minnesota Department of Human Services Legislative Report. February 2022. Accessed August 12, 2024 (“DHS recruited potential reviewers from across the state based on previously established categories of stakeholders representing people of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and statewide geographic representation including greater Minnesota and the metro areas”). ↑
Grant Award Update & Evidence-Based Analysis of Opioid Legislative Appropriations. Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council. Minnesota Department of Human Services Legislative Report. February 2022. Accessed August 12, 2024. ↑
Amended Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement, Sec. IV.F (“Collaboration”). ↑
Minn Stat. Sec. 256.043, Subds. 3a(d) (providing that appropriations of settlement funds to Tribal social service agency initiative projects are subject to Subd. 3(m)'s maintenance of effort requirement), Subd. 3(m) (providing that county social service agencies and tribal social service agencies "must not use funds received [from the registration and license fee account] to supplant current state or local funding received for child protection services for children and families who are affected by addiction"). ↑
By selecting the “Combined Settlement/OER Fees (OERAC directed)” checkbox under “Funding Source (Directed By).” Opioid Epidemic Response Spending Dashboard. Minnesota Management and Budget website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Minn. Stat. Secs. 256.042, subd. 4(a) (“commissioner of human services shall submit a report of the grants proposed by the advisory council to be awarded for the upcoming calendar year to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services policy and finance, by December 1 of each year, beginning December 1, 2022.”), subd. 5(a) (“The advisory council shall report annually to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services policy and finance by January 31 of each year. The report shall include information about the individual projects that receive grants, the municipality projects funded by direct payments received as part of a statewide opioid settlement agreement, and the overall role of the project in addressing the opioid addiction and overdose epidemic in Minnesota. The report must describe the grantees and municipalities and the activities implemented, along with measurable outcomes as determined by the council in consultation with the commissioner of human services and the commissioner of management and budget. At a minimum, the report must include information about the number of individuals who received information or treatment, the outcomes the individuals achieved, and demographic information about the individuals participating in the project; an assessment of the progress toward achieving statewide access to qualified providers and comprehensive treatment and recovery services; and an update on the evaluations implemented by the commissioner of management and budget for the promising practices and theory-based projects that receive funding”). ↑
Minn. Stat. Sec. 256.043, subd. 1(a), (b) (“The commissioner of management and budget shall deposit into the registration and license fee account the registration fee assessed by the Board of Pharmacy under section 151.066 and the license fees identified in section 151.065, subdivision 7, paragraphs (b) and (c)”). ↑
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