# 15% State Share

### **Where do these monies live?**

Fifteen percent (15%) is allocated to an undefined “State Fund” and explicitly excluded from the 70% Opioid Abatement Special Fund.\[1]

### **What can this share be spent on?**

With limited exceptions,\[2] this share may be spent either on reimbursements for past abatement expenditures or for forward-looking abatement.\[3] Communications from the Vermont Attorney General refer to the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) [Exhibit E](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Exhibit-E-List-of-Opioid-Remediation-Uses.pdf),\[4] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies, as the state’s list of approved uses.

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

***The “State” decides*****.** The “state,” which Vermont’s governing documents do not define, ultimately decides specific expenditures for this share.\[5]

### **Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?**

**No, supplantation is not prohibited.** Vermont does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of funds from its 15% state share. This means that the state 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. 

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s [Expenditure Report Tracker](https://www.opioidsettlementtracker.com/expenditures) for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

### **What else should I know?**

**Not applicable.**

### **Citations**

1. [Vermont Attorney General’s Executive Summary of Opioid Distributors and J\&J Settlements (AG Executive Summary) I](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-13-21-Executive-Summary-final.pdf). September 14, 2021. Accessed August 28, 2024 (“15% to states to remediate for past expenses of the opioid crisis or for future abatement”). The September 2021 executive summary from the AG applies only to the Distributor and Janssen settlements. A subsequent memo from the AG in March 2023 addressed “second wave” settlements (Teva, Allergan, CVS, Walmart, and Walgrens) and confirmed that “15% \[of these settlement funds go] to the State”). [Attorney General 2023 Memo](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-3-23%20Opioids%20Settlement%20Information%20for%20Subdivisions%20\(003\).pdf). March 23, 2023. Accessed August 28, 2024. *See also* 18 V.S.A. Sec. 4771 (“While an opioid litigation settlement may designate a portion of the monies for local or State use, this subchapter applies to only monies from abatement accounts funds”). ↑
2. *See* [AG Executive Summary IV](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-13-21-Executive-Summary-final.pdf#page=7) (“\[A]pproved purposes can be found at Exhibit E to the \[Settlement Agreements], which is attached to this memo”) and [Distributor Settlement Agreement](https://nationalopioidsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Final_Distributor_Settlement_Agreement_3.25.22_Final.pdf#page=9) 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”). ↑
3. [AG Executive Summary I](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-13-21-Executive-Summary-final.pdf#page=3) (“15% to states to remediate for past expenses of the opioid crisis or for future abatement (the ‘State Fund’)”). ↑
4. [AG Executive Summary IV](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-13-21-Executive-Summary-final.pdf#page=7) (“\[A]pproved purposes can be found at Exhibit E to the SAs, which is attached to this memo”). *See also* [Opioid Settlements](https://ago.vermont.gov/divisions/consumer-protection/consumer-resources/health-and-product-safety/opioid-settlements). Vermont Attorney General website. Accessed August 28, 2024 (linking to “[Exhibit E - List of Opioid Remediation Uses](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Exhibit-E-List-of-Opioid-Remediation-Uses.pdf)”). ↑
5. [AG Executive Summary I](https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-13-21-Executive-Summary-final.pdf#page=3) (“15% to states to remediate for past expenses of the opioid crisis or for future abatement (the ‘State Fund’)”). ↑