15% State Share

Where do these monies live?

Fifteen percent (15%) of the state’s opioid litigation proceeds are held in the Opioid Abatement Account and appropriated to state agencies.[1]

Note: Texas’ allocations of settlement funds between this Opioid Abatement Account and its Opioid Abatement Trust (which contains the state’s two other shares) are often settlement-specific.[2] See Distribution of Opioid Settlement Proceeds for more information.

What can this share be spent on?

This share must be spent on a list of approved uses described in state law:[3]

• prevention (“such as school-based prevention”)

• efforts to “prevent or reduce deaths … from opioid-related harms” (including making naloxone available to a wide-ranging list of eligible recipients)[4]

• training on OUD treatment (including “medical detoxification” and “diversion control,” among other “best practices”)[5]

• OUD treatment, “with an emphasis on programs that provide a continuum of care”

• access to medication (including opioid agonists, partial agonists, and antagonists)

• efforts to reduce the “abuse or misuse” of prescription medications[6]

• support for treatment alternatives (including “mobile health services and telemedicine … in rural areas”)[7]

• efforts to address the needs of people involved in the criminal legal system

• and a catch-all category to “further any other purpose related to opioid abatement authorized by appropriation”[8]

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

State legislature and state agencies decide. The Texas state legislature appropriates funds from this share to state agencies for spending on the nine approved strategies described above.[9]

Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Texas does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 15% local share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

No (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.[10]

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. Tex. Gov’t Code Secs. 403.505(a) (describing dedicated account in the general revenue which is administered by the Comptroller) and 403.505(b) (“The account is composed of … money obtained from a statewide opioid settlement agreement and deposited in the account under Section 403.507”); Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.507(b)(1) (“Of money obtained under a statewide opioid settlement agreement[,] 15 percent shall be deposited into the [Opioid Abatement] account”); Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(c) (“Money in the account may be appropriated only to a state agency for the abatement of opioid-related harms”). ↑

2. See Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.507(c) (“For the purposes of a statewide opioid settlement agreement in relation to a bankruptcy plan for a released entity, money is distributed in accordance with the bankruptcy plan”). ↑

3. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(d) (“A state agency may use money appropriated from the account only to…”) and Sec. 403.505(d)(1)-(9) (listing acceptable Opioid Abatement Account uses for this share). ↑

4. Including healthcare providers, first responders, people experiencing an overdose, families, schools, community-based service providers, social workers, or “other members of the public.” Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(d)(2)(A)-(H). ↑

5. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(d)(3). ↑

6. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(d)(6). ↑

7. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(d)(7). ↑

8. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec 403.505(d)(9). ↑

9. Tex. Gov’t Code Sec. 403.505(c)-(d). The State of Texas has disagreed with this categorization in its communications with Vital Strategies and OpioidSettlementTracker.com. See Community Guides Methodology. The second item of the nine — efforts to “prevent or reduce deaths … from opioid-related harms” (including the provision of naloxone) — anticipates a wide-ranging list of potential partners for this goal: healthcare providers, first responders, people experiencing an overdose, families, schools, community-based service providers, social workers, or “other members of the public.” Sec. 403.505(d)(2)(A)-(H). See FY 2024: Naloxone Distribution Grant Opportunity for more. ↑
10. The State of Texas has disagreed with this categorization in its communications with Vital Strategies and OpioidSettlementTracker.com. See Community Guides Methodology. ↑