65% Local Share

Where do these monies live?

This share is distributed directly to participating counties and cities according to Exhibit B of Wyoming’s MOUs.[1] Non-participating localities’ amounts are reallocated to participating localities,[2] who may each opt to redirect their shares to the state share.[3]

What can this share be spent on?

Up to 15% of this share can be spent on attorneys’ fees.[4] Otherwise, and with limited exceptions,[5] this share must be spent on forward-looking approved uses described in Exhibit A of Wyoming’s MOUs,[6] which is a variation of the national settlement agreement’s Exhibit E, Schedule B (“Approved Uses”) that allows for a broader variety of law enforcement-related uses.[7]

Reimbursement uses of opioid settlement funds are explicitly prohibited.[8]

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

Local governments decide autonomously (but must certify proper uses). Decisionmakers for the counties and municipalities will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit A uses,[9] but each is required to certify to the Wyoming Attorney General that it will spend its share on approved uses prior to receiving disbursement of funds,[10] in addition to annually certify spending on approved uses and reporting expenditures for the preceding year to the AG.[11]

Counties are additionally required to consult and “regularly” receive input from their cities and towns.[12] Local governments are encouraged to collaborate with each other on abatement efforts and are explicitly empowered to grant their shares to organizations.[13]

Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Wyoming does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that the 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?

Up to each locality (no public reporting required, only intrastate). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share. Participating local governments must annually report their expenditures only to the Attorney General.[14]

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

What else should I know?

Media coverage has described how Wyoming's local governments have been slow to spend down their shares. In 2023, local governments reportedly received more than $7.5 million in opioid settlement funds; however, and “according to reports sent to the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office[,] … leaders only spent or allocated about 5.6% of that.”[15]

Citations

1. OneWyo Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (MOA I) Sec. II.A) and OneWyo II Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (MOA II) Sec. II.A (“65% allocated to the Participating Local Governments (Localized Share)”); MOA I Sec. I.F and MOU II Sec. I.F (defining “Participating Local Governments” to mean “all counties, cities, and towns within the geographic boundaries of the State of Wyoming” that have signed on to the respective MOU); and MOA I Sec. IV.B and MOA II Sec. IV.B (local share “will be distributed directly to each Participating Local Government”). Exhibit B is an attachment to both MOU I and MOU II that describes local governments’ allocation percentages. Note that MOA II — which applies to the settlements with Allergan, Teva, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart — applies a different allocation to the monies associated with the Teva Settlement specifically (75% instead of 65% to the Local Share). MOA I applies only to the Distributor and Janssen settlements, and the Purdue Bankruptcy. See MOA I Sec. I.J and Amendment One to the OneWyo Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Agreement (Amendment to MOA I) Sec. 4.F. ↑
2. MOA I Sec. II.C and MOA II Sec. II.C (providing that a non-Participating Government’s allocation is reallocated to the Local Share and distributed according to “the remaining proportions set for in Exhibit B”). ↑
3. MOA I Sec. II.D and MOA II Sec. II.D (“Any Participating Local Government allocated a share in Exhibit B may elect to direct its share of current or future annual distributions of Localized Share Funds to the Statewide Share”). ↑
4. MOA I Sec. V.C , Amendment to MOA I Sec. 4.G, and MOA II Sec. V.C (limiting payment to attorneys’ fees to no more than 15% of monies received by local governments). ↑
5. MOA I Sec. I.E and MOA II Sec. I.E (defining “Opioid Funds” to exclude attorneys’ fees or “any funds made available in a National Settlement Agreement or any Bankruptcy Resolution for the reimbursement of the United States Government”). ↑
6. MOA I Sec. I.A and MOA II Sec. I.A (defining “Approved Use(s) to mean “any opioid or co-occurring substance use disorder related strategies, projects, or programs that fall within, or are reasonably related or otherwise consistent with, the list of uses set out in Exhibit A”). MOA I Sec. III.A and MOA II Sec. III.A (“Regardless of allocation, all Opioid Funds must be used in a manner consistent with the Approved Uses definition”). ↑
7. See, e.g., Exhibit A Sec. J.1 (providing that “[p]articipating Local Governments may also use their share of funds for law enforcement expenditures relating to the opioid epidemic”). ↑
8. MOA I Sec. III.A and MOA II Sec. III.A (“No Opioid Funds will be used as restitution for past expenditures. Rather, Opioid Funds must be used in a present and forward-looking manner to actively abate and alleviate the impacts of the opioid crisis and co-occuring substance abuse in Wyoming”). ↑
9. MOA I Sec. III.C and MOA II Sec. III.C (“The Localized Share must be used only for (1) Approved Uses by Participating Local Governments or (2) grants for Approved Uses”). See, e.g., Fremont County (describing creation of workgroup to determine county allocations). ↑
10. MOA I Sec. VI.B and MOA II Sec. VI.B (required certification to the AG that a locality will spend its share on approved uses prior to disbursement). ↑
11. MOA I Sec. VI.C and MOA II Sec. VI.C (“By January 31 of each calendar year, each Participating Local Government shall certify to the Attorney General that all Opioid Funds expended during the preceding calendar year were used in accordance with this MOA on projects, programs, and strategies that constitute Approved Uses. In submitting this certification, each Participating Local Government shall include a report detailing for the preceding calendar year: (1) the amount of the Localized Share received by the Participating Local Government; (2) the amount of Localized Share expended by the Participating Local Government—broken down by funded project, program, or strategy; and (3) the amount of any allocations awarded by the Participating Local Government—listing the recipients, amounts awarded, amounts disbursed, disbursement terms, and the projects, programs, or strategies funded”) ↑
12. MOA I Sec. III.D and MOA II Sec. III.D (“Each Participating County shall regularly consult with and receive input from its constituent cities and towns regarding effective distribution and use of the Localized Share Funds. Each Participating County shall make reasonable and good faith efforts to not only secure the collaboration of each of its constituent cities and towns, but also to use the Opioid Funds in a manner that benefits the residents of each constituent city and town, regardless of population”). ↑
13. MOA I Sec. III.E and MOA II Sec. III.E (“Notwithstanding any term of this MOA, Participating Local Governments may collaborate with local governments both within and beyond their borders for the purpose of more effectively using Opioids Funds to abate the opioid crisis”). MOA I Sec. III.C and MOA II Sec. III.C (authorizing grants for approved uses). ↑
14. MOA I Sec. VI.C and MOA II Sec. VI.C. ↑
15. Madelyn Beck. More than 90% of Wyoming’s local opioid settlement money goes unspent while overdose deaths climb. WyoFile. April 22, 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑