50% State Share
Where do these monies live?
The Opioid Abatement Settlement Account holds the state government’s 50% share of Washington State’s opioid settlement funds.[1] Starting July 2025, 20% of this share’s receipts (or $7,750,000, whichever is greater) will be annually transferred from this Account to the newly created Tribal Opioid Prevention and Treatment Account.[2]
What can this share be spent on?
In general, and with limited exceptions,[3] this share must be spent only on the forward-looking opioid remediation uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[4] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and other strategies.
The Attorney General has expressed that this share will be spent consistently with Washington’s State Opioid and Overdose Response (SOOR) Plan,[5] which focuses on the following priority goals:[6]
Prevent opioid misuse
Identify and treat substance use disorder
Ensure and improve the health and wellness of individuals that use drugs
Use data to detect opioid misuse/abuse, monitor illness, injury and death, and evaluate interventions
Support individuals in recovery
The 20% of this share that is annually transferred to the Tribal Opioid Prevention and Treatment Account (beginning July 2025) must be spent to “address[] the impact of the opioid epidemic in tribal communities” by funding “[p]revention and recovery services,” “treatment programs[,] including medication-assisted treatment,” “peer services,” “awareness campaigns and education,” and “support for first responders.”[7]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Workgroups and governor provide input, state legislature decides. The Washington state legislature ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share,[8] inclusive of the 20% allocated to the Tribal Opioid Prevention and Treatment Account.[9]
According to FAQ responses authored by the Washington State Health Care Authority,[10] the legislature is informed by input from a chain of key stakeholders:
The State Opioid and Overdose Response Plan (SOORP) workgroup provides recommendations to the SOORP “executive sponsors” (representatives from key state agencies and academia).[11]
The SOORP executive sponsors use the workgroup’s recommendations to develop their own funding recommendations, which are then provided to the Governor’s office.[12]
The SOORP executive sponsors’ recommendations may be integrated into the Governor’s budget, which contains funding proposals for the legislature’s consideration.[13]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Washington does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 50% state 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 (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). The Attorney General has published a one-time summary of appropriations for the state legislature’s 2023-25 biennium.
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
Allocation Agreement Governing the Allocation of Funds Paid by Settling Opioid Distributors in Washington State (Allocation Agreement I) Para. 9.A and Washington State Allocation Agreement Governing the Allocation of Funds Paid by Certain Opioid Manufacturers and Pharmacies (Allocation Agreement II) Para. 10.A. Wash. Rev. Code Sec. Sec. 43.79.483(1) (“The opioid abatement settlement account is created in the state treasury. All settlement receipts and moneys that are designated to be used by the state of Washington to abate the opioid epidemic for state use must be deposited into the account”). ↑
Laws of 2024, Chapter 210, Sec. 3 (Tribal Opioid Prevention and Treatment Account) (“A new section is added to chapter 43.79 RCW to read as follows: The tribal opioid prevention and treatment account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from the transfer directed in RCW 3.79.483(3) must be deposited in the account”) and Wash. Rev. Code Sec.43.79.483(3) (“Beginning July 1, 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter through June 30, 2031, the state treasurer shall transfer into the tribal opioid prevention and treatment account created in section 3 of this act from the opioid abatement settlement account an amount equal to the greater of $7,750,000 or 20 percent of the settlement receipts and moneys deposited into the opioid abatement settlement account during the prior fiscal year”). ↑
Wash Rev. Code Sec. 43.79.483(1) (“Expenditures from the account may only be used for future opioid remediation as provided in the applicable settlement”) (emphasis added) and Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”).. ↑
Wash Rev. Code Sec.43.79.843(1) (“Expenditures from the account may only be used for future opioid remediation as provided in the applicable settlement. For purposes of this account, "opioid remediation" means the care, treatment, and other programs and expenditures, designed to: (a) Address the use and abuse of opioid products; (b) treat or mitigate opioid use or related disorders; or (c) mitigate other alleged effects of, including those injured as a result of, the opioid epidemic”). Allocation Agreement I Para. 11.B and Allocation Agreement II Para. 12.A (“Exhibit A of the MOU is replaced by Exhibit E”); and Distributor Settlement Agreement I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation”). ↑
See Johnson & Johnson pays $123.34 million to state, local governments following AG Ferguson opioid law suit. Washington Attorney General press release. June 18, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The Legislature will determine how the state share is further allocated in communities around the state. All spending decisions must be consistent with the state Opioid Response Plan”). See also Uniform Application FY 2024/2025 – State Behavioral Health Assessment And Plan (“Washington State identified the State Opioid and Overdose Response Plan as the collaborative framework where consensus recommendations on the use of opioid settlement dollars would be developed and submitted for consideration by the Governor’s Office”). ↑
State Opioid and Overdose Response (SOOR) plan. Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA). Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Wash. Rev. Code 43.79.843(1) (“Money in the account may be spent only after appropriation”). See also Washington Opioid Settlement FAQ. HCA. Updated January 6, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The legislature will approve final use of the 50% of abatement funds and returned AGO attorney fees”). ↑
Laws of 2024, Chapter 210, Sec. 3 ("Moneys in the [tribal opioid prevention and treatment account] may be spent only after appropriation”). ↑
“The following responses have been … updated as of 01/06/2023.” Washington Opioid Settlement FAQ. HCA. Updated January 6, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
Washington Opioid Settlement FAQs. HCA. Updated January 6, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The SOORP workgroups (made up of subject matter experts and stakeholders from tribal and local communities) provided recommendations to the SOORP executive sponsors (key state agencies and academia)”). ↑
Washington Opioid Settlement FAQs. HCA. Updated January 6, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The executive sponsors then sent their resulting recommendations to the Office of the Governor”). See, e.g., 2021-22 Opioid Overdose and Response Plan. ↑
Washington Opioid Settlement FAQs. HCA. Updated January 6, 2023. Accessed September 1, 2024 (“The Governor’s budget includes a set of recommendations for use of the funds for consideration and approval by the Legislature. Opioid settlement items found in DOH and HCA budgets. In the HCA agency recommendation summary, opioid settlement uses are marked “DS” and can be viewed here. In the DOH agency recommendation summary, opioid settlement uses are marked with “Settlement” and can be viewed here”). ↑
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