Laserfiche WebLink
5 <br /> <br />allocation model based on nationally available federal data on opioid use disorder, <br />overdose deaths, and opioid shipments into Minnesota, by region and community. <br /> <br />15. When will my city or county get payments? <br /> <br />Payments from the Settlements will begin to flow to the state and directly to cities and <br />counties as soon as April 2022. The Distributors will make payments over a period of 18 <br />years, and J&J will make payments over nine years. The J&J settlement provides for <br />payments to be accelerated if cities and counties sign on early. <br /> <br />16. How much money will the State receive, and where will it go? <br /> <br />Under the terms of the MN MOA, the statewide abatement share is 25% of the total <br />abatement funds. By statute, these funds will go into a special opioid abatement account <br />and are designated to be used solely for opioid abatement purposes pursuant to the <br />Approved Uses in the MN MOA, overseen and distributed by the Opioid Epidemic <br />Response Advisory Council.1 <br /> <br />17. What about attorney fees? <br /> <br />The state’s investigation and litigation against the opioid industry is handled by <br />government lawyers in the Attorney General’s Office. No money from these Settlements <br />will go to pay any state lawyers. Some cities and counties in Minnesota retained attorneys <br />on a contingency fee basis to file lawsuits against the opioid companies. The national <br />settlements establish an Attorney Fee Fund for attorneys representing cities and counties <br />that join the settlements. The settlements require attorneys who recover from this fund to <br />waive enforcement of their contingency fee agreements. The MN MOA includes a <br />Backstop Fund, which will be overseen by a Special Master, that will allow for the payment <br />of reasonable attorney fees to private attorneys to make up for the difference between what <br />they receive from the national fund and their contingency fee agreements, which are capped <br />at 15%. The Backstop Fund is funded by a percentage of the local government share of <br />settlement funds, and any funds that remain in the Backstop Fund after payment of <br />reasonable attorney fees will revert to cities and counties for abatement. <br /> <br />18. How will the money coming into Minnesota be tracked? <br /> <br />The Advisory Panel to the Attorney General on Distribution and Allocation of Opioid <br />Settlement Funds agreed upon a set of reporting and compliance recommendations to make <br /> <br />1 Under current law, after certain appropriations are made, approximately 50% of the funds paid <br />into the opioid abatement account are distributed to county social service agencies to provide child <br />protection services to children and families who are affected by addiction. The state-subdivision <br />agreement anticipates a change to this law to allow counties to receive their share of the settlement <br />funds directly. The agreement requires the state and subdivisions to work together to achieve this <br />change in law during the 2022 legislative session, and includes a provision changing the allocation <br />between state and local governments if the statutory change is not accomplished.