15% Local Share
Where do these monies live?
This share is distributed directly to the state’s 93 counties and 16 municipalities and is not held in the Nebraska Opioid Recovery Fund.[1] Because state law does not speak to any specific allocation to localities, it is presumed that the default allocation in Exhibit G of the national settlements applies.
What can this share be spent on?
The Attorney General has suggested that this share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[2] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and other strategies.
Because cities’ and municipalities’ direct shares are explicitly excluded from the Nebraska Opioid Recovery Fund,[3] the 15% local share is exempt from the Fund’s many intricate planning and spending requirements.[4]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the cities and counties will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.[5]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Nebraska does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 15% 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?
Up to each locality (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.
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
Neb. Rev Stat. Ann. Sec. 71-2490(3) (“The Nebraska Opioid Recovery Trust Fund shall exclude funds held in a trust capacity where specific benefits accrue to specific individuals, organizations, political subdivisions, or governments”), Overview: Opioid Litigation Settlements. Attorney General presentation. Accessed September 1, 2024 (describing 15% of proceeds to “93 counties and 16 Eligible Municipalities” across numerous settlements, except for monies the McKinsey settlement, none of which go to the local share), Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee. Attorney General webpage. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Under the Nebraska Opioid Prevention and Treatment Act, the … 15% share to eligible cities and counties is to be directly deposited by the national settlement administrator with each eligible city or county”), and Teva, Allergan CVS, and Walgreens Finalize Opioid Settlements Agreements: Nebraska to Receive over $65 million to Right the Opioid Crisis. Attorney General press release. June 9, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Per the terms of the agreements, … 15% [is] given directly to cities and counties”). ↑
See Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee. Attorney General webpage. Accessed September 2, 2024 (citing to Neb. Rev Stat. Sec. 71-2486 to assert that “[b]oth the monies deposited into the Opioid Recovery Fund and directly with eligible cities and counties must be used in a manner approved under the settlement agreement for abatement of opioid use disorder and any co-occurring mental health or substance use disorders”) and Neb. Rev Stat. Ann. Sec. 71-2486 (“The purpose of the Opioid Prevention and Treatment Act is to provide for the use of dedicated revenue for opioid-disorder-related treatment, prevention, and remediation and research regarding opioid treatment, prevention, and remediation, in accordance with the terms of any verdict, judgment, compromise, or settlement that is the source of such revenue”). See also Overview: Opioid Litigation Settlements. Attorney General presentation. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Exhibit ‘E’ in [the] Settlements contains a list of approved uses for settlement funds”) and Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation”). ↑
Neb. Rev Stat. Ann. Sec. 71-2490(3) (“The Nebraska Opioid Recovery Trust Fund shall exclude funds held in a trust capacity where specific benefits accrue to specific individuals, organizations, political subdivisions, or governments”). ↑
See, e.g., Neb. Rev Stat. Ann. Secs. 71-2490, 71-2491, 71-2492, 71-2494, 81-5,153, and 81-3119. ↑
Neb. Rev Stat. Ann. Sec. 71-2490(3) (“The Nebraska Opioid Recovery Trust Fund shall exclude funds held in a trust capacity where specific benefits accrue to specific individuals, organizations, political subdivisions, or governments”) and Nebraska Opioid Settlement Remediation Advisory Committee. Attorney General webpage. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The committee has no authority over any direct payments made to eligible cities and counties from the national administrator” and describing that “[t]he 15% share to eligible cities and counties is to be directly deposited by the national settlement administrator with each eligible city or county”). ↑
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