60% Regional Share

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed to Colorado’s 19 single- and multi-county regions.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[2] regional shares must be spent on forward-looking abatement uses consistent with in the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

Regional councils decide (with Colorado Opioid Abatement Council oversight). Regions are required to create Regional Opioid Abatement Councils (regional councils) that are empowered to ultimately decide their own specific expenditures.[4] However, regional councils must submit two-year spending plans to the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC),[5] which reviews the plans only to determine whether spending is proposed for approved purposes and complies with Colorado’s Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding (i.e., COAC exercises ministerial — not discretionary — oversight of this share).[6]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is discouraged but not prohibited. Colorado does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from the 60% regional share. However, the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council, which oversees this share,[7] has issued recommendations that discourage uses of settlement funds that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.[8]

Can I see how this share has been spent?

Yes (public reporting required). Visit the Colorado Opioid Settlement Expenditures Dashboard. You can also view regional plans for 2022-2024 here. Each Regional Council is required to annually report its expenditure data to the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC), and the COAC is required to publish this information on a dashboard.[9]

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

What else should I know?

Most localities have chosen to direct their local share to their respective region,[10] which means that funds are subject to the decision-making processes for the 60% regional share.

Citations

1. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. B.2(c), F.2 (“Participating Local Governments shall organize themselves into the Regions depicted in Exhibit C”), F.5 (“All funds from the Regional Share shall be distributed to the Regional Council’s identified fiscal agent for the benefit of the entire Region”), Exhibit C. See also Colorado Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Summary, Sec. D. Colorado Attorney General’s Office. October 2021. Accessed August 23, 2024 (“single- or multi-county regions made up of local governments”). ↑
2. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. A.1 (defining “Approved Purposes” to include “reasonable administrative costs associated with overseeing and administrating Opioid Funds” and “attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in the course of the opioid litigation that are paid through the process discussed below”), F.8 (capping regional councils’ administrative costs at the lower of 10% or actual costs), I (addressing payment of counsel and litigation expenses through a back-stop fund). ↑
3. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. A.1 (defining “Approved Purpose(s)” as “forward-looking strategies, programming, and services to abate the opioid epidemic as identified by the terms of any Settlement”), B.2(c) (requiring 60% regional share be spent on “Approved Purposes”), B.4 (“All Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation, shall be used for Approved Purposes”). Colorado’s Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding also provides that “Approved Purpose(s) shall mean those forward-looking strategies to abatement the opioid epidemic identified in Exhibit A or any supplemental forward-looking abatement strategies added to Exhibit A by the Abatement Council,” but this definition applies only “[i]f a Settlement is silent on Approved Purpose(s).” Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. A.1. All the national settlement agreements explicitly address approved purpose(s). See, e.g., Distributor Settlement Agreement, Sec. 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”). ↑
4. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. F.5, F.5(a) (“each Region may draft its own intra-regional agreements, bylaws, or other governing documents to determine how the Regional Council will operate”). See also Opioid Abatement Council. Colorado Attorney General website. Accessed August 23, 2024 (“The 19 regional councils determine how to distribute and manage their funds with oversight from the statewide Colorado Opioid Abatement Council”). See, e.g., Region 2, Region 9, Region 16. ↑
5. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. F.7 (“Each Regional Council shall make requests to the Abatement Council for Opioid Funds from their allocation of the Regional Share. Each Regional Council’s request for Opioid Funds from the Regional Share shall be accompanied by a 2-year plan identifying the Approved Purposes for which the requested funds will be used by the Region anywhere within the State of Colorado”). See also Regional Plan Submission, Amendment, and Certification Policy. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. March 13, 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024. ↑
6. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. C.3, F.9 (“The Abatement Council shall release funds requested by a Regional Council in accordance with Section (B)(l) if the Regional Council’s 2-year plan complies with the Approved Purposes, the terms of this MOU, and the terms of any Settlement. The Abatement Council shall not deny any funding request from a Regional Council on the basis that the Abatement Council does not approve or agree with the Approved Purposes for which a Regional Council requests Opioid Funds. Nor may the Abatement Council hold up, delay, or make unreasonable requests for additional or supporting information of the Regional Council prior to releasing the requested Opioid Funds. The purpose of this MOU is to facilitate Opioid Funds to their intended recipients quickly and efficiently with minimal administrative procedure”). See also Remedial Action Procedures – Regional Funds. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. November 10, 2022. Accessed August 26, 2024 (outlining processes and remedial actions regarding the misspending of regional funds). ↑
7. See Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC). ↑
8. 2024 Recommendations and Guiding Principles for the Use & Management of Opioid Settlement Funds from COAC. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. June 13, 2024 (“Add to or expand effective programming rather than supplanting existing funds”). ↑
9. Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. F.10, F.10(b) (“The Abatement Council may require Regional Councils to provide additional outcome related data”). The Colorado Opioid Abatement Council is also required to “develop a centralized dashboard or other repository for the publication of expenditure data from any Party or Regional Council that receives Opioid Funds” (i.e., the Colorado Opioid Settlement Expenditures Dashboard). Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. C.4.c(i). See also Expenditure Data Reporting Policy. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. June 7, 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024. ↑
10. Combating the Opioid Crisis. Colorado Attorney General’s website. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“most local governments chose to direct their funds to their regions to pool resources and reduce expenses”). See Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. E.6 (“A Participating Local Government may forego its allocation of the LG Share and direct its allocation to the Regional Share for the Region where the Participating Local Government is located”). ↑