15% Commonwealth Share
Where do these monies live?
The Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation Fund holds 15% of the state’s opioid settlement funds.[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] the Commonwealth share must only be spent on “efforts to treat, prevent, or reduce opioid use disorder or the misuse of opioids or to otherwise abate or remediate the opioid epidemic,” or for the approved prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies described in the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E.[3]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
State legislature decides. The Virginia General Assembly ultimately decides specific appropriations of the Commonwealth’s Opioid Abatement and Remediation Fund.[4]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Virginia does explicitly not prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from the 15% Commonwealth share. This means that the Commonwealth share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
No (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?
Before the Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation Fund was created in 2023, the MOU previously required this share to be spent on abatement only as needed to satisfy the national settlement agreements’ minimum opioid remediation spending requirements.[5]
Citations
Virginia Opioid Abatement Fund and Settlement Allocation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) B.1 (“fifteen percent (15%) … to the Commonwealth of Virginia (“Commonwealth Share’)”) and Va. Code Ann. Sec. 2.2-2377 (“There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation Fund[.] … All funds received pursuant to a settlement, judgment, verdict, or other court order … regarding the manufacturing, marketing, distribution, or sale of opioids that are intended to be used for opioid abatement or remediation, excluding funds designated for transfer to the Opioid Abatement Authority established under this chapter and funds designated for transfer to participating localities … shall be deposited by the Office of the Attorney General in such amounts into the Fund”) (emphasis added). ↑
MOU D.8 (“Any attorneys' fees related to representation of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall not be paid from the Subdivision Share, the Direct Subdivision Abatement Share, or the Fund but shall be drawn directly from the Commonwealth Share or through other sources. Any payments of attorneys' fees related to representation of the Commonwealth of Virginia from such other sources shall not be deemed Opioid Funds subject to allocation under this MOU”) and Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”).. ↑
Va. Code Ann. Sec. 2.2-2377 (“Any moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of efforts to treat, prevent, or reduce opioid use disorder or the misuse of opioids or to otherwise abate or remediate the opioid epidemic, or for any other approved purposes to the extent that such purposes are described in a related settlement, judgment, verdict, or other court order”) (emphasis added). See also Virginia Attorney General. Summary of Key Provisions on the Use of Funds Received from National Opioid Settlements (AG Summary) II. April 18, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“Some settlement agreements require that all settlement funds be used for abatement and remediation purposes, while others contain limited allowances for settlement funds to be used for non-abatement purposes. However, all of the settlement agreements strongly encourage settlement funds to be used for abatement and remediation. The settlement agreements that permit some funds to be used for non-abatement purposes make it clear that using settlement funds in this manner is strongly disfavored”). ↑
Va. Code Ann. Sec. 2.2-2377 (“There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation Fund,” and “[e]xpenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed pursuant to the appropriation act”). ↑
MOU B.4 (“The Commonwealth Share shall be deposited to the Attorney General’s Regulatory, Consumer Advocacy, Litigation, and Enforcement Revolving Trust Fund with moneys transferred to eh Commonwealth’s General Fund as provided by law. To the extent a Settlement requires that all Opioid Funds be used only for abatement or similar purposes, then the Commonwealth share shall be deposited and distributed accordingly”). Under the national settlement agreements, 70% of monies must be spent on prospective or “future” opioid remediation, which by definition excludes reimbursement for past expenditures. ↑
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