35% State Share
Where do these monies live?
This share is distributed to the Department of Health (DOH).[1]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on forward-looking approved uses described in Exhibit A of Wyoming’s MOUs,[3] which is a variation of the national settlement agreement’s Exhibit E, Schedule B (“Approved Uses”) that allows for a broader variety of law enforcement-related uses.[4]
Reimbursement uses of opioid settlement funds are explicitly prohibited.[5]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Department of Health decides. The Wyoming Department of Health (DOH) ultimately decides how to spend this share on Exhibit A uses, including as grants for approved uses.[6] In past years, funds have primarily been allocated to projects within DOH’s Behavioral Health Division and Public Health Division.[7]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Wyoming does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 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 (public reporting required). View the state share’s annual report here. The “State” is required to publish an online report each year on its expenditures, including funds expended by DOH and any grants awarded.[8]
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
OneWyo Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (MOA I) Sec. II.A) and OneWyo II Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (MOA II) Sec. II.A ((“35% allocated to the State (Statewide Share)”); MOA I Sec. IV.A and MOA II Sec. IV.A (“Unless newly-enacted legislation or the terms of a Settlement that becomes an order of a court provides otherwise, the Statewide Share will be distributed to the Wyoming Department of Health through the Wyoming Attorney General acting as trustee, agent, or attorney-in-fact to hold and distribute such amount, under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 9-1-639(a), exclusively for abating the opioid crisis throughout Wyoming”). Note that MOA II — which applies to the settlements with Allergan, Teva, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart — applies a different allocation to the monies associated with the Teva Settlement specifically (25% instead of 35% to the state share). MOA I applies only to the Distributor and Janssen settlements, and the Purdue Bankruptcy. See MOA I Sec. I.J and Amendment One to the OneWyo Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (Amendment to MOA I) Sec. 4.F. ↑
MOA I Sec. I.E and MOA II Sec. I.E (defining “Opioid Funds” to exclude attorneys’ fees or “any funds made available in a National Settlement Agreement or any Bankruptcy Resolution for the reimbursement of the United States Government”). ↑
MOA I Sec. I.A and MOA II Sec. I.A (defining “Approved Use(s) to mean “any opioid or co-occurring substance use disorder related strategies, projects, or programs that fall within, or are reasonably related or otherwise consistent with, the list of uses set out in Exhibit A”). MOA I Sec. III.A and MOA II Sec. III.A (“Regardless of allocation, all Opioid Funds must be used in a manner consistent with the Approved Uses definition”). ↑
See, e.g., Exhibit A Sec. J.1 (providing that “[p]articipating Local Governments may also use their share of funds for law enforcement expenditures relating to the opioid epidemic”). ↑
MOA I Sec. III.A and MOA II Sec. III.A (“No Opioid Funds will be used as restitution for past expenditures. Rather, Opioid Funds must be used in a present and forward-looking manner to actively abate and alleviate the impacts of the opioid crisis and co-occuring substance abuse in Wyoming”). ↑
MOA Sec. III.B and MOA II Sec. III.B (“The Statewide Share must be used only for (1) Approved Uses within the State of Wyoming or (2) grants for Approved Uses within the State of Wyoming. The State of Wyoming, Department of Health will serve as the lead agency responsible for distributing and using the Statewide Share in a manner that in its judgment will best address the opioid crisis within the State”). See also Wyoming Statewide Share of Opioid Funds Report. Wyoming Department of Health (DOH). January 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024 (describing itself as the “lead agency for the Statewide Share of Opioid Funds”). ↑
See, e.g., Wyoming Statewide Share of Opioid Funds Report. Wyoming Department of Health (DOH). January 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
MOA I Sec. VI.F and MOA II Sec. VI.F (“By January 31 of each calendar year, the State shall publish online a report detailing for the preceding calendar year: (1) the amount of the Statewide Share received; (2) the amount of the Statewide Share expended by the Department of Health — broken down by funded strategy, project, or program; and (3) the amount of any grants awarded — listing the recipients, amounts awarded, amounts disbursed, disbursement terms, and programs, strategies, and projects funded”). ↑
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