50% State Share
Where do these monies live?
The Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund holds 50% of New Jersey’s opioid settlement funds.[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on the approved uses described in Exhibit A of New Jersey’s MOA,[3] which is identical to the national settlement agreements’ Exhibit E, Schedule B (“Approved Uses”) and includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[4] State law also includes a non-exhaustive list of “evidence-based or evidence-informed practices or strategies” that largely derive from the national settlement agreements’ Exhibit E, Schedule B.[5] Reimbursement uses of opioid settlement funds are specifically prohibited statewide.[6]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
New Jersey Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council guides, Department of Human Services decides. The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share after consulting its Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council.[7] In allocating funds, DHS must “consider equitable access for underserviced communities Statewide.”[8]
DHS retains the power to direct settlement monies to “other State departments.”[9] In February 2024, the Governor announced DHS’s decision to direct $95 million to programs that will be administered by the Departments of Human Services, Health, and Children and Families over the next two to three years.[10]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
Yes, supplantation is prohibited. New Jersey state law explicitly prohibits supplantation uses of state and local opioid settlement funds.[11] This means that New Jersey’s opioid settlement funds must be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). View the state’s and subdivision’s annual spending reports here.[12] New Jersey law requires DHS to publicly report “details of allocations made” using funds appropriated from the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund.[13]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
In March 2024, the Attorney General’s office established the Office of Alternative and Community Responses (OACR) to serve as the Department of Law and Public Safety’s (DLPS) lead entity “with respect to recovery and treatment services for substance use disorders.”[14] The OACR’s Opioid Prevention and Response Bureau (OPRB) will serve as DLPS’s point of contact “for discussions involving the use of settlement funds.”[15]
Citations
Memorandum of Agreement Between the State of New Jersey and Local Governments on Opioid Litigation Recoveries (MOA) D.1 (“All Opioid Funds shall be divided with 50% directly to the State (‘State Share’) and 50% directly to the Participating Local Governments (‘Local Government Share’). N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(b) (“Any moneys received by any State department pursuant to a national opioid litigation settlement subject to this act shall be transferred into the [Opioid Recovery and Remediation] [F]und,” and “moneys paid to counties or municipalities shall not be considered to be part of the State’s share of moneys received as a result of a national opioid litigation resolution”). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(c)(1)(b) (describing “payment of attorneys’ fees, costs, and related litigation expenses related to the national opioid litigation resolution” as an approved use of Fund monies); N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(e)(15) (describing “[a]dministrative expenses, subject to limits imposed by any national opioid litigation resolution” as an approved use of Fund monies); MOA D.2-D.3 and F.2 (acknowledging exception to requirement for spending on approved purposes as to “administrative expenses . . . and counsel and litigation fees,” capping administrative expenses at 5% of the “State Share,” inclusive of trustee expenses). ↑
The national settlement agreement’s “Approved Uses” list is Schedule B of its Exhibit E, a document that “provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses.” Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS. ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(e)(1)-(14). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(f) (“no amount of such moneys shall be used to reimburse the State or any of its counties or municipalities for past expenditures, except as may otherwise be required to refund to the federal government a portion of the moneys”). “Such moneys” refers to funds “allocated to or otherwise received by the State or any of its counties or municipalities as a result of a national opioid litigation resolution.” See also MOA D.7 (“no amount of such moneys shall be used to reimburse the State or any of its counties or municipalities for past expenditures, except as may otherwise be required to refund the federal government a portion of the moneys”). ↑
The State of New Jersey has disagreed with this categorization in its communications with Vital Strategies and OpioidSettlementTracker.com. See Community Guides Methodology; N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(c)(2)-(3),(d) (“The Department of Human Services shall be designated the lead agency for the State”; “the Department of Human Services, which shall allocate the appropriated funds in accordance with the provisions of subsections d., e., and f. of this section”; “the department shall direct the allocation and disbursement of moneys in the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund established by this section, and shall do so in consultation with the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council”); and 26:2G-40 (“There is established in the Department of Human Services the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council”). The Council also advises the governor’s administration as well. Governor Murphy Announces Allocation of $95 Million from New Jersey’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund. New Jersey Governor press release. February 15, 2024. Accessed August 9, 2024 (“The Advisory Council, which was established by Executive Order No. 305, and codified by P.L.2023, c.25, is tasked with making recommendations for the Administration’s consideration regarding the prioritization and effective use of the State’s share”). See also Frequently Asked Questions. State of New Jersey Opioid Settlements webpage (see “How will the opioid settlement funds be used?”) (“The Department of Human Services is the designated lead agency for the state for purposes of directing the disbursement and allocation of the state’s share of any monies … They are also responsible for monitoring the use of monies disbursed to counties or municipalities under a national opioid litigation resolution”). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(d). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(c)(4) (“Moneys from the fund may be transferred to other State departments as directed by the Commissioner of Human Services in support of the purposes provided for in this act, subject to the approval of the Director of Budget and Accounting”). ↑
Governor Murphy Announces Allocation of $95 Million from New Jersey’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund. New Jersey Governor press release. February 15, 2024. Accessed August 9, 2024 (““At the recommendation of the State’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council and with extensive input from the public, six programs addressing four priority areas – harm reduction, prevention and recovery support, treatment, and housing – have been identified to receive funding over the next two to three years”). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-39(f) (“Moneys, other than attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses related to litigation, that are allocated to or otherwise received by the State or any of its counties or municipalities as a result of a national opioid litigation resolution shall be used to supplement, and shall not supplant, federal, State, county, or municipal funds, as the case may be, that otherwise would have been used to carry out the purposes delineated in this act”). See also Memorandum of Agreement Between the State of New Jersey and Local Governments on Opioid Litigation Recoveries, Sec. D(7). ↑
N.J. Stat. Sec. 26:2G-43(a), (c) (for each allocation, this report must include “the allocation amount, program description, involved community providers, goals of the program, and outcome measures to be used to determine program efficacy”). See also MOA F.5. ↑
Attorney General Administrative Executive Directive No. 2024-01 I.E(1). March 13, 2024. Accessed August 9, 2024. ↑
AG Platkin Issues a Directive Formalizing the Office of Alternative and Community Responses Within the Department of Law and Public Safety. Attorney General press release. March 13, 2024. Accessed August 8, 2024. ↑
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