15% Local Share

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed directly to participating cities and counties according to Exhibit B of Montana’s MOU.[1] These monies are separate from the funds participating local governments will also receive from the Trust regional allocations.[2]

Non-participating local governments’ amounts are redirected to the Trust for use by their regions.[3]

What can this share be spent on?

Montana’s MOU does not explicitly require this share to be spent on opioid remediation.[4] However, at least a portion of monies in this share must inevitably be spent on abatement uses (as illustrated by the national settlement agreements’ non-exhaustive Exhibit E, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies) for the state to meet its minimum opioid remediation spending requirements under the different agreements.[5]

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

Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the cities and counties will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies.[6]

Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?

No, supplantation is discouraged but not prohibited. Montana’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides that “the State of Montana and its Local Governments [are] enter[ing] into this MOU … to develop a fair and transparent process for making decisions based on medical and scientific evidence concerning where and how to spend the funds from the Settlement Agreements to effectuate forward-looking abatement strategies and to supplement rather than replace existing spending”.[7] The absence of explicit “shall” or “shall not” (or equivalent) language renders this provision a strong discouragement against rather than an explicit prohibition of expenditures that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

Up to each locality (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.

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

1. Montana Distributors’ and Janssen Opioids Settlement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) D.3(c) (“Fifteen percent (15%) shall be allocated directly to the Local Government Fund”) and MOU D.8 (“Amounts apportioned to the Local Government Fund shall be distributed to Participating Local Governments … per … Exhibit B”). See also Montana Association of Counties: Trust Allocation Percentages and Authorized Officials. ↑

2. See, e.g., MOU Amendment I (“The governance structure of the Abatement Regions described in paragraph D.9 shall allow for Local Governments within the Region to independently access funds from the Abatement Trust’). ↑

3. MOU D.8. ↑

4. See MOU D. ↑

5. See, e.g., Distributor Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 85% opioid remediation spending); CVS Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95.5% opioid remediation spending); Walgreens Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 95% opioid remediation spending); Walmart Settlement Agreement, Sec. V(B)(1) (minimum 85% opioid remediation spending). ↑

6. MOU D.3(c) and D.8. ↑

7. Importantly, this prohibition appears in recital (a) of Montana’s opioid settlement memorandum of understanding rather than in an operative provision. Montana Distributors’ and Janssen Opioids Settlement Memorandum of Understanding. November 26, 2021 (emphasis added). ↑