56.14% Local Share

Where do these monies live?

The combined 56.14% local share is distributed to cities and counties in two ways:

• 38.77% Local Governments. These monies are allocated to cities and counties according to Exhibit D of Nevada’s state-local allocation agreement.[1] 25% of non-litigating counties’ amounts are reallocated to the litigating counties outlined in Exhibit F of Nevada’s agreement.[2]

• 17.37% Medicaid Match. These monies are distributed to counties: 65% to Clark County, 14% to Washoe County, and 21% to the remaining litigating and non-litigating counties by population (according to Exhibit E of Nevada’s agreement).[3]

What can this share be spent on?

Excepting several set-asides for litigation costs, attorneys’ fees, and administrative expenses,[4] this share must be spent on approved purposes,[5] which the state defines to mean uses that are consistent with state law,[6] in addition to the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[7] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.

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 approved purposes.[8]

Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Nevada does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from the 56.14% local share. This means that the 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 (no public reporting required, only intrastate). Local governments must annually report information about their past and intended spending to the Attorney General “to ensure funds are being used for approved purposes only.”[9] Nevada’s agreement does not require publication of this information online.

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

1. One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries (Agreement) B.2(2). ↑

2. Agreement B.8 (described as a “deduct[ion]”). ↑

3. Agreement B.2(3)(a)-(c). ↑

4. See Agreement B.1 (capping administrative costs at 8%); A.9, B.2 (describing litigation costs); B.6-7 (describing attorneys’ fees); and A.10 (defining "Federal Government CMS Medicaid Costs" to mean “22.52% of any Recovery after deduction of the Lead Litigator Costs that may be asserted, and only if determined to be recoverable, against the State of Nevada's Federal Government Centers for Medicaid Services costs for claims”). ↑

5. Agreement B.1 (“all Recoveries must be used for Approved Purposes”) and A.12 (defining “Recoveries” to mean monies from settlements in the agreement’s Exhibit C, which ostensibly lists all possible defendants in the opioid litigation at large). ↑

6. Agreement A.13 (defining “Approved Purposes” to mean “only uses to remediate the harms, impact, and risks caused by the opioid epidemic to the State of Nevada and its residents, and are consistent with those uses required by Senate Bill 390 (SB 390) as enrolled by the 81st (2021) Nevada Legislative Session and signed into law by the Nevada Governor, or uses that are listed as an approved use for abatement purposes in any plan approved by a bankruptcy court that are not otherwise inconsistent with SB 390”). ↑

7. Fund for a Resilient Nevada. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (see “Opioids Recoveries Approved Uses,” which links to each settlement agreement’s Exhibit E or equivalent of Exhibit E [Exhibit A for bankruptcies]). Accessed August 8, 2024. See also Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑

8. Agreement B.1, B.2(2)-(3) (describing allocations to local governments for approved purposes). ↑

9. Agreement D (“Prior to July 1st of each year, or as otherwise required by any Court Order, each of the Local Governments shall provide information to the State, to the attention of Mark J. Krueger, Chief Deputy Attorney General at [e-mail], about how they intend to expend, and how they did expend, their allocated shares of any Recovery/Recoveries to ensure such Recoveries are being used for Approved Purposes only”). ↑