45% Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Fund Share
Where do these monies live?
The state’s share is held in the Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Fund and continuously appropriated to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA).[1] Starting in 2024, 30% of the Fund is annually allocated to Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes.[2]
Note: This 45% allocation applies to the grand majority, but not all, of Oregon’s opioid settlements.[3]
What can this share be spent on?
In general, and with limited exceptions,[4] this share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E.[5] After a set-aside for a system to collect and publish information about the state’s substance use services,[6] all remaining monies must be spent on statewide and regional programming consistent with the national settlements, including but not limited to a 12-item list of approved expenditures that includes evidence-based or evidence-informed programs to provide connections to care, to address the needs of pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorders, and to discourage or prevent misuse of opioids.[7]
The Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Board has expressed its spending decisions to date using an eight-category list that includes harm reduction and overdose prevention; primary prevention; treatment; recovery; leadership, planning, and coordination; research and evaluation; and emerging issues.[8]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Board decides. The Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Board (OSPTR Board), created within the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share.[9]
In determining Fund allocations, the OSPTR Board is required to be “guided and informed” by Oregon's Strategic Plan for Substance Use Services, ongoing evaluations of its own programmatic efficacy, evidence-based and evidence-informed best practices, public input, and equity considerations for underserved populations.[10]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Oregon does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the “Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Fund” share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). View the state’s annual reports on the OHA’s Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds page.[11] The state must publish an annual report on use of settlement funds statewide, including the 45% Fund share, each year.[12]
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
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sections 5(1)-(2). State of Oregon Subdivision Agreement Regarding Distribution and Use of Settlement Funds (Agreement) 4(a) (“45% of the Oregon Settlement Funds shall be allocated to the State of Oregon”) and Supplement 4 (45% of funds from the Mallinckrodt bankruptcy and additional settlement agreements allocated to the state). ↑
Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Accessed August 24, 2024 (“In January 2024 the OSPTR Board voted to allocate $27.7 million to the nine Federally Recognized Tribes in Oregon – this is equivalent to 30% of all funds anticipated this biennium. This 30% set-aside will continue throughout the life of the fund as additional settlement payments are deposited”). ↑
See Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. OHA. Accessed August 24, 2024 (describing Publicis and “[a]dditional restitution funds from Oregon Department of Justice” as “not subject to 55/45% split with subdivisions”). However, the state-local agreement and its subsequent supplement encompass most of Oregon’s opioid settlement funds (describing Publicis and “additional restitution funds” as “not subject to 55/45% split with subdivisions”). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(6)(a) (capping administrative expenses at 5%). See also Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. OHA. Accessed August 24, 2024 (“2022 House Bill 4098 allows up to 5% of the OSPTR Fund to go to administrative expenses such as staffing, fund management, contracts, and grants management. A total of $1.3 million has been set aside for administrative expenses to date”). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(6)(c) (monies in the Fund to be spent on “statewide and regional programs identified in the Distributor Settlement Agreement, the Janssen Settlement Agreement and any other judgment or settlement described in [state law]”). 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”). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(6)(b). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(6)(c)(A)-(L). ↑
See Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. OHA. Accessed August 24, 2024 (“After the Tribal set-aside, the OSPTR Board is disbursing the funds across eight categories…”). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(1) (“The Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Board is created in the Oregon Health Authority for the purpose of determining the allocation of funding from the Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Fund”). See also Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. OHA. Accessed August 24, 2024 (“This fund is controlled by the 18-member Oregon Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Board. Oregon Health Authority provides staff support to the OSPTR Fund and Board”) and Frequently Asked Questions: Oregon Opioid Settlement Funds. OHA. Updated April 16, 2024. Accessed August 24, 2024 (“OHA has one representative on the OSPTR Board, per House Bill 4098. The agency has no specific decision-making authority to determine how the State portion of opioid settlement funds are allocated. The OSPTR Board makes these decisions”). ↑
Oregon Laws 2022, Chapter 63, Sec. 6(6)(d)(A)-(F). ↑
See, e.g., Oregon Opioid Settlement Spending Report (FY 2022-2023) (hyperlinked as “Opioid Settlement Report ’22-‘23” on the OHA’s website). ↑
Agreement 5(d). See also Supplement 5(c) (applying Sections 5 (reporting and oversight) and 6 (audit) from the original state-local agreement to additional settlement funds). ↑
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