Wisconsin’s Opioid Settlements

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

Total Funds

$746.58 million[1]

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[1] Total is rounded. See The Official Opioid Settlement Tracker Tally. Accessed September 1, 2024.

Allocation

70% to local governments and 30% to the state

Mechanism

State-Local Agreements (2022 Wisconsin State-Local Memorandum of Understanding and 2023 Wisconsin State-Local Government Memorandum of Understanding for the Allocation of Opioid Settlement Proceeds); Local Agreement (Local Government Memorandum of Understanding); Legislation (Wis. Stat. Ann. Sec. 165-12)

	70% Local Share	30% State Share
Ultimate Decisionmaker	Local officials for cities and counties	Wisconsin state legislature Joint Committee on Finance
Decision-making Process	Localities decide autonomously	The Wisconsin Department of Health Services submits an expenditure proposal to the Wisconsin state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance for approval. The Joint Committee can take no action on the proposal (effectively approving it), decline to approve it and schedule a meeting to discuss, or unilaterally change proposed expenditures.
Supplantation	Prohibited	Not prohibited
Grant Funding	Up to each locality (availability and processes will vary)	Yes. For live opportunities, see Opioid Settlement Tracker’s Community Grant Tracker.
Public Input	Up to each locality (not required)	Depends on future programming (recurring opportunities not required)
Advisory Body	Up to each locality (not required)	No (not required)
Expenditures	No public reporting required (only intrastate)	No public reporting required (only intrastate), but see the Department of Health Services’ publication of quarterly and annual reports here.
Updates	To find updates on the local share, a good starting point is to check the websites for your county board of supervisors, city council, or local health department. See, e.g., Eau Claire County, Iowa County, Marinette County, Milwaukee County, Vernon County. See also the Wisconsin Counties Association’s opioid abatement website.	For updates on the state share, visit the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Dose of Reality: Opioid Settlement Funds website.