State, counties and cities reach agreement on opioid settlement allocations

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has announced the State of Idaho and participating local governments have reached an agreement on how to allocate opioid settlement funds.

On August 24, 2021, the attorney general and Governor Brad Little announced their intention to join two national opioid settlements, totaling up to $119 million for the state and participating counties and cities.

Since then, the Office of the Attorney General has worked closely with eligible local governments to reach an agreement on how Idaho’s opioid settlement funds will be split. The agreement will apply to funds from both nationwide settlements and future opioid settlements, including the pending bankruptcy proceedings involving Purdue Pharma L.P. and Mallinckrodt PLC.

Under the Idaho Opioid Settlement Intrastate Allocation Agreement, opioid settlement funds will be divided with 40 percent going directly to participating counties and cities and 20 percent to the regional public health districts. The remaining 40 percent will be allocated to the State-Directed Opioid Settlement Fund to be appropriated by the Idaho Legislature based on recommendations by the Idaho Behavioral Health Council.

In order for the allocation agreement to become effective, the state and participating counties and cities needed to represent at least 50 percent of Idaho’s population. Additionally, 15 percent of counties had to sign on. The state reached that threshold this week, with 40 of the eligible 68 counties and cities signing on. All seven regional public health districts have also signed on.

Under the agreement, money from the opioid settlements must be spent on opioid treatment programs. The Office of the Attorney General will keep publicly-available records of how funds are expended.