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

• 50% Maine Recovery Fund share: Maine Recovery Council

• 30% local share: decisionmakers for towns, cities, and counties

• 20% state share:

This Community Guide will describe how Maine is spending its opioid settlements and whether Maine is working to ensure community access to opioid settlement funds. Last revised September 1, 2024.

Maine Attorney General

• Maine Recovery Council

  • Calendar (incl. meeting notices, agendas, minutes)

  • Reports

  • (September 14, 2023)

• (February 1, 2024)

Can I provide input on spending?

• 50% Maine Recovery Fund share: Yes (required). According to the bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council (Council), which directs uses of this 50% share,[1] the Council is required to meet publicly at least twice a year and use at least one meeting to host a “public forum through which the Council can receive input from stakeholders and the public.”[2] The Council is also required to consult with the public on the methods, findings, and conclusions of the statewide opioid abatement needs assessment that it must complete at least every two years.[3]

  • The Council’s November 2023 public forum included the opportunity for in-person or written comments, and an online survey was also distributed to solicit public input. Sign up for the Council’s meeting updates (upper right side of this webpage) and watch out for similar opportunities to submit feedback in future.

  • Details on upcoming and past meetings of the Council can be reviewed . Recent agendas indicate that most regular meetings do not include the opportunity for public comment.

• 30% local share: Up to each locality (not required). Local governments are not required to seek public input on uses of their collective 30% shares. However, each may choose to seek such input. For example, the Rockland City Council voted to establish a committee to develop spending recommendations for opioid settlement funds. Those recommendations “will then go to Rockland citizens through a participatory budgeting process.”[4] Watch for other opportunities to weigh in on city and county spending decisions, such as city council meetings and town halls.

• 20% state share: No opportunities available (not required). The state has not established recurring opportunities for the public to provide input on uses of its 20% share.[5]

Yes. The Maine Recovery Council has previously invited community organizations to apply for funding. Visit the Council’s to see current funding opportunities. Local governments also may create grant programs to distribute their share of funds. The existence, parameters, and processes for local settlement grant programs will vary by locality, so stay alert for new opportunities. Visit the (OpioidSettlementTracker.com and Legal Action Center) for the most up-to-date information on settlement grant opportunities for community organizations.

• For updates on the Maine Recovery fund share, visit the Maine Recovery Council’s and . The state Attorney General’s (AG) website also contains a calendar of the state’s opioid settlement-related meetings and events, and a linked page directs questions about the Council to .[6]

• FAQs from Maine’s AG states that the “best way to find out about what your community is doing with its settlement funds is to call your county administrators, or if your city or town is a participating subdivision[,] … the city or town office” and provides a . See also websites for the individual localities (e.g., , ).

Not applicable.

1. Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(2). ↑

2. Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Sec. (January 31, 2024). ↑

3. Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council, Sec. (January 31, 2024). ↑

Where do these monies live?

Unclear. Maine’s Memoranda of Understanding simply provide that this share is distributed “to the State of Maine Attorney General.”[1]

What can this share be spent on?

This share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[2] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[3]

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

State Attorney General decides. The Maine Attorney General will decide how this 20% share will be spent on approved uses.[4]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is discouraged but not prohibited. Maine does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its funds from the 20% state share. This means that the state share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

However, Maine’s 2023 settlement MOU, which applies to settlements reached after those with Distributors and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), does “strongly encourage[]” the state, localities, and the Maine Recovery Council to use settlement funds “solely to supplement and strengthen, rather than supplant, resources for … approved uses.”[5]

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 for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

Not applicable.

1. Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds, ; Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023, . ↑

2. Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds, Secs. (defining “Approved Uses” to mean the national settlement agreements’ Exhibit E), (requiring “[a]ll Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation,” to be spent on “Approved Uses”); Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023, Secs. , (same). 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”). Maine’s MOUs do not address administrative or attorneys’ fee uses for the state share but do address Recovery Fund and local set-asides for those purposes. ↑

Where do these monies live?

The Maine Recovery Fund (“Recovery Fund”) holds 50% of the state’s opioid settlement funds.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies. Additionally, 3% of the Recovery Fund is reserved for Maine’s school districts’ special education uses.[4]

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

Maine Recovery Council decides. The Maine Recovery Council ultimately directs disbursements of the Recovery Fund share and ensures that they are spent on approved uses.[5] The Recovery Council is required to facilitate collaboration among the state, local governments, regional councils, and other groups to share overdose data and abatement best practices.[6]

The Recovery Council, which has adopted its own bylaws,[7] otherwise has “broad discretion” around how to spend funds.[8] The Recovery Council has established several committees, including a “Program/Grants Committee” to recommend grantmaking activities and monitor the Recovery Council’s programming.[9]

The Recovery Council operates by consensus, and at least 3/5 of Recovery Council members must approve of any decision.[10]

Yes, supplantation is prohibited. The Maine Recovery Council’s provide that “the Council’s distribution of funds shall be structured to supplement, and not supplant, directly or indirectly, the activities of federal, state, and local governments, private foundations, public charities, or other entities.”[11] This means that monies from the 50% Maine Recovery Fund Share must be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing resources.

Additionally, Maine’s , which applies to settlements reached after those with Distributors and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), “strongly encourage[s]” the state, localities, and the Maine Recovery Council to use settlement funds “solely to supplement and strengthen, rather than supplant, resources for … approved uses.”[12]

Yes (public reporting required). You can view the Maine Attorney General’s Recovery Fund reports . The Recovery Council is required to “develop a centralized public dashboard or other repository for publication of [Recovery Fund] expenditure data.”[13] The Recovery Council appears to have satisfied this requirement by posting the state Attorney General’s required intrastate reporting of Recovery Fund expenditures.[14]

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

Maine prepared for its “second wave” of settlements with Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart by developing a separate memorandum of understanding (MOU).[15] Maine’s 2023 MOU includes new provisions (e.g., discouraging supplantation uses of funds from subsequent opioid settlements) and alters certain provisions of the original MOU (e.g., substituting the Maine Recovery Council for the legislature in several passages).[16]

1. Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds, Secs. , ; Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023, Secs. , ; Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-B (“the Attorney General may work with the Treasurer of State to deposit identified revenue or money received as a result of [the opioid litigation] into the Maine Recovery Fund for spending on approved uses as directed by the Maine Recovery Council”). ↑

2. Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds, (“The Council may use funds to hire additional administration support if necessary”); Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023, (“The Council may use funds to hire additional administration support if necessary”). ↑

This share is distributed directly to Maine counties, cities, and towns according to of the MOUs.[1]

With limited exceptions,[2] this share must be spent on the uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) ,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.[4]

Localities decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the counties, cities, and towns will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses,[5] whether directly or in collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, or private sector groups.[6]

No, supplantation is discouraged but not prohibited. Maine does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its funds from the 30% local share. This means that the local share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

However, Maine’s , which applies to settlements reached after those with Distributors and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), does “strongly encourage[]” the state, localities, and the Maine Recovery Council to use settlement funds “solely to supplement and strengthen, rather than supplant, resources for … approved uses.”[7]

Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?

Yes. The Maine Recovery Council (Council) was created by state law to direct spending from the 50% share held in the Maine Recovery Fund and ensure spending complies with the terms of Maine’s MOUs.[1] The Council is additionally responsible for facilitating collaboration across the state, local governments, Regional Councils,[2] and other key stakeholders,[3] in addition to developing a “centralized public dashboard” to publish the Recovery Fund’s expenditures.[4]

The Council is required to meet at least twice each calendar year, either in person or remotely,[5] but in practice has met monthly.[6] The Council is also required to host at least one meeting each year to provide “a public forum through which the Council can receive input from stakeholders and the public.”[7] The Council’s regular meetings are open to the public,[8] and details on past and upcoming meetings can be found here.

Decisions are made by consensus.[9] The Council’s standing subcommittees include an Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Governance Committee, and the Programs, Needs, Grants, Planning, and Collaboration Committee,[10] as well as an ad hoc Prevention Workgroup.[11] The Council is empowered to create additional subcommittees “as it deems appropriate.”[12]

Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

Unclear. The Maine Attorney General is required by the state’s settlement MOU to appoint an individual or family member “impacted by the Opioid Crisis,” as well as an individual with “substance use disorder and recovery community experience.”[13] There is no further elaboration on how “impacted by” and “experience” are understood or defined.

The includes fifteen (15) members, eleven (11) of whom are required by Maine’s MOUs and the remainder (4) by state law:

• Four (4) members selected by litigating cities and/or counties (“subdivision members”)[14]

• Four (4) “state members”:

  • Two (2) members appointed by the Governor[15]

Members of the Council may serve no more than two (2) consecutive two-year terms (i.e., no more than four (4) consecutive years).[26] Current Maine Recovery Council members are listed .

No (up to each locality). Local governments in Maine are not required to establish opioid settlement advisory bodies, but they may choose to do so. For example, Franklin County formed an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee to develop a grantmaking process and recommend expenditures to county commissioners.[27]

Not applicable.

1. Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Sec. 203-C(2). See Amendment to Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds (“2022 Maine Settlement MOU”), Sec. (“Duties”); Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds-2023 (“2023 Maine Settlement MOU”), Sec. (“Duties”). ↑

2. “Regional Councils” are not specific to the opioid settlements in Maine. Rather, they operate as that support planning and coordination across a range of issue areas. ↑

3. 2022 Maine Settlement MOU, Sec. (“Collaboration”); 2023 Maine Settlement MOU, Sec. (“Collaboration”). ↑