Here are the entities that ultimately decide how each of Connecticut’s opioid settlement shares are spent:

• 85% Opioid Settlement Fund share:

• 15% local share: local officials for municipalities

Where do these monies live?

Connecticut’s 15% local share is distributed directly to its municipalities.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

This share must be spent on abatement uses described in the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[2]

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

Localities decide autonomously (but must report expenditures to Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee). Decisionmakers for the municipalities will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.[3] See, e.g., New Haven (reporting city’s uses of direct shares on grants to community health centers), New London (reporting on mayor’s intent to ask city’s council to establish a dedicated fund).

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Connecticut does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from its municipalities share. This means that local governments’ opioid settlement funds 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 annual municipal settlement proceeds reports on the Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee’s (OSAC) . Municipalities that directly receive settlement funds must submit an annual expenditure report to the OSAC,[4] and the must publish these reports on its website.[5]

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

Not applicable.

1. Office of the Attorney General of Connecticut. August 3, 2021 (“The proceeds of the settlement will be distributed as follows: 85% will be distributed to the state and 15% to municipalities who sign on to the settlement agreements. (The 85% distributed to the state consists of 70% for prospective abatement efforts only, and the remaining 15% is intended for abatement generally)”). ↑

2. Cara Passaro, Chief Counsel to the Attorney General and Director of Legislative Affairs. July 21, 2021 (“How are the funds to be used by municipalities? Funds are to be used exclusively for opioid abatement purposes, including, but not limited to, expanding access to opioid use disorder prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery options”). See also Distributor Settlement Agreement, Sec. (“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”). ↑

Where do these monies live?

The Opioid Settlement Fund holds 85% of Connecticut’s opioid settlement funds.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on abatement uses consistent with the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[3]

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

Subcommittees and stakeholders recommend, Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee (OSAC) decides, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services administers and oversees. The Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee,[4] which ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share,[5] consults recommendations from several stakeholders and subcommittees — including Yale’s Connecticut Opioid REsponse (CORE) Initiative[6] — before approving allocations of the Opioid Settlement Fund.[7] The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHA) then disburses funds and oversees their uses.[8]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

Yes, supplantation is prohibited. State law explicitly states that the Opioid Settlement Fund’s expenditures “shall be supplemental to, and shall not supplant or take the place of, any other funds … that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes.”[9] Connecticut goes a step further by requiring the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to submit a letter each year to the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee verifying that funds appropriated from the Opioid Settlement Fund in that fiscal year’s budget for “substance use disorder abatement infrastructure, programs, services, supports, and resources for prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction” are not less than the funds appropriated and allocated from the previous fiscal year’s budget for those purposes.[10]

Yes (public reporting required). You can view “Approved Funding Recommendation” documents on the Connecticut Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee’s . The Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee is also required to submit an annual report to the Connecticut General Assembly that summarizes its activities and expenditures from the Opioid Settlement Fund share,[11] and the Commissioner of Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is required to publish the report on the department’s website.[12]

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

Not applicable.

1. Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(a)-(b). See also Office of the Attorney General of Connecticut. August 3, 2021 (“The proceeds of the settlement will be distributed as follows: 85% will be distributed to the state and 15% to municipalities who sign on to the settlement agreements. (The 85% distributed to the state consists of 70% for prospective abatement efforts only, and the remaining 15% is intended for abatement generally)”). ↑

2. See, e.g., Conn. Gen. Stat. Secs. 17a-674c(f)(8) (describing allowable administrative expenses and attorneys’ fees uses), (g)(2) (describing costs “to refund to the federal government a portion of the proceeds”). ↑

3. Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 17a-674c(f) (“Moneys in the fund shall be spent only for the following substance use disorder abatement purposes, in accordance with the controlling judgment, consent decree or settlement, as confirmed by the Attorney General's review of such judgment, consent decree or settlement and upon the approval of the committee and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management”). Although Connecticut state law enumerates its own list of allowable abatement purposes, these are understood to function as a summary of the national settlement agreements’ “Exhibit E,” which “provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses.”