A new state website is detailing how much opioid settlement money local governments are receiving, and how the state is spending that money.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office is leading the project.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said it's a way to support local municipalities and service providers, including those who offer treatment and recovery services.
She said during roundtable discussions, a constant concern raised was that it wasn’t always immediately clear how much money local governments were getting from the settlements.
Nessel said she hopes the website will give local communities a better sense of how much money they have to work with.
“You don’t want to initiate a program that you don’t know you’re going to have continuous funding for. But, this way, when you see exactly here’s what you’re getting, not just this year, not just next year, but, you know, for the next 16 years or 17 years, I think it’s very helpful to these communities,” Nessel said.
“It’s not our responsibility to help them spend it but, you know, we want to help in any way we can," said Nessel. "We thought that this website was a really good place for all of these stakeholders to go."
She said more money should also come in the future once outstanding lawsuits wrap up.
Michigan is slated to receive more than $1.5 billion by 2040 as a result of existing settlement agreements with various opioid distributors and manufacturers. Half of that goes to county, city, and township governments, while the state’s Michigan Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund holds on to the other half.
