Advisory Bodies

Important Information: Nebraska recently adopted legislation 2024 LB 1355 substantially modifies state laws governing the allocation and use of monies from the 85% Opioid Recovery Trust Fund share. As indicated in draft minutes from the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee’s May 8, 2024 meeting, it is unclear whether or how the Advisory Committee will operate moving forward.[1] This section of Nebraska’s Community Guide derives from the Advisory Committee’s bylaws dated June 13, 2023, which do not account for the effects of 2024 LB 1355. Portions of this section may be rendered inapplicable or inaccurate based on how 2024 LB 1355 will ultimately affect the Advisory Committee’s existence, makeup, and operation.

Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?

Yes. Nebraska established the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee to recommend uses of the 85% Opioid Recovery Trust Fund share to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Behavioral Health.[2] According to its bylaws, the Advisory Committee may:[3]

• Establish eligibility criteria for distributing monies from the Opioid Recovery Trust Fund,[4] including as grants

• Establish criteria for the allocation of monies from the Opioid Recovery Trust Fund among the state’s political subdivisions and six behavioral health regions

• Establish criteria on core strategies and approved uses of monies from the Opioid Recovery Trust Fund

• Receive grant applications and recommend grant award processes, frequency, recipients, and amounts

• Conduct or authorize surveys and needs assessments

• Establish processes for receiving input regarding opioid use disorder and co-occurring conditions and associated abatement needs, strategies, and responses

• Establish processes and criteria to evaluate uses of monies from the Opioid Recovery Trust Fund, including performance metrics and outcome reporting

• Otherwise assist the Division of Behavioral Health with respect to opioid settlement funds

The Advisory Committee’s bylaws require it to meet at least once annually,[5] though it has consistently met more frequently,[6] and to comply with the state’s Open Meetings Act.[7]

Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

Yes. The Advisory Committee’s bylaws require the state attorney general to appoint at least one member who is “a consumer of substance use disorder services.”[8]

What is the overall membership of the state advisory body?

The Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee’s bylaws provide for 12 to 24 members, split evenly between local representatives and state members.[9]

• The League of Nebraska Municipalities and Nebraska Association of County Officials appoint between six and 12 local representatives, with no more than two local representative members from any single behavioral health region.[10]

• The state attorney general appoints between six and 12 state members — whatever is “equivalent to the total number of local” appointments. Of the appointed state members:[11]

  • At least one must be a consumer of substance use disorder services.

  • At least one must have “specialized knowledge, experience, or expertise relating to the provision of substance use disorder services in Nebraska.”

  • At least one must have “specialized knowledge, experience, or expertise relating to the provision of mental health services in Nebraska.”

  • At least one must be a staff or faculty member of an accredited medical school of a public or private university within the state.

  • At least one must be a representative of a medical, health care, or pharmacological association that has members statewide.

  • At least one must represent a state law enforcement agency.

• The state’s attorney general and director of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Behavioral Health — or their designees — also serve as non-voting, ex-officio members.[12]

Terms: Advisory Committee members are appointed to initial two-year terms and able to serve up to two additional two-year terms (i.e., six years total).[13]

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 Nebraska are not required to establish opioid settlement advisory bodies. However, localities may choose to establish advisory councils that include members with lived and/or living experience to help ensure that settlement spending reflects community priorities.

What else should I know?

• Draft meeting minutes from the Advisory Committee’s May 8, 2024 meeting refer to uncertainty surrounding the Advisory Committee’s continued operations following adoption of 2024 LB 1355,[14] which modified the state laws governing opioid settlement funds. Portions of this section may be rendered inapplicable or inaccurate based on how 2024 LB 1355 will ultimately affect the Advisory Committee’s existence, makeup, and operation.

• State law directs a portion of the 85% Opioid Recovery Trust Fund share to each of Nebraska’s six Regional Behavioral Health Authorities (RBHAs),[15] which oversee the “development and coordination of publicly funded behavioral health services” in their regions.[16] Each RHBA is governed by regional governing board containing one county board member from each of that region’s counties.[17] Each RHBA must also establish a regional advisory committee of “consumers, providers, and other interested parties,”[18] which is responsible for “advising … on the needs and matters relating to community behavioral health services provided in the [r]egion.”[19] Regional advisory committees must meet at least quarterly.[20]

Citations

1. DHHS Director of Developmental Disabilities and Interim Director of the Division of Behavioral Health “Tony Green discussed how LB1355 was written with the Committee’s purpose in mind. … Discussion focused on the Committee’s scope of work, to whom the Committee reports, and whether this Committee would continue to exist per the legislation. Comparisons were made between LB1355 and the Distributors Settlement Agreement as to the requirement of having this Committee. Further clarity on this topic is requested from the Attorney General’s office before any actions will be taken” (emphasis added). ↑

2. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article II. June 13, 2023. ↑

3. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article II(A)-(K). June 13, 2023. ↑

4. Note that the Committee’s Bylaws refer throughout to the “Opioid Recovery Fund.” Legislation in 2024 renamed this to be the “Opioid Recovery Trust Fund” (emphasis added). 2024 LB 1355, Sec. 10. ↑

5. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article IV Sec. 1. June 13, 2023. ↑

6. See Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee (“Meetings – Past”). Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑

7. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article IV Sec. 2. June 13, 2023. ↑

8. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 2(a). June 13, 2023. ↑

9. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Secs. 2 (“The total number of local voting members appointed to the Committee shall be no less than six and no more than twelve”), 3 (“The total number of state members shall be equivalent to the total number of local members”). June 13, 2023. The bylaws allow the Advisory Committee to change the total number of its members so long as “(i) the number of local members is no less than the number of state behavioral health regions, (ii) at least one local member from each behavioral health region is appointed to the Committee, and (iii) the number of voting members is equivalent between state and local members.” Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 6. June 13, 2023. ↑

10. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 1. June 13, 2023. ↑

11. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 2(a)-(f). June 13, 2023. ↑

12. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 3. June 13, 2023. ↑

13. Bylaws of the Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee, Article III Sec. 4. June 13, 2023. ↑

14. See Meeting Minutes DRAFT, Sec. 6. Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee. May 8, 2024 (“Discussion focused on the Committee’s scope of work, to whom the Committee reports, and whether this Committee would continue to exist per the legislation. … Further clarity on this topic is requested from the Attorney General’s office before any actions will be taken.”) ↑

15. Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann Sec. 71-2491(3). ↑

16. Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann Sec. 71-809(1). ↑

17. Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann Sec. 71-808(1). ↑

18. Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann Sec. 71-808(2). ↑

19. 206 Neb. Admin. Code Sec. 3-001.01. ↑

20. 206 Neb. Admin. Code Sec. 3-001.01(D). ↑