Alabama panel hears requests for $278 million in opioid settlements
A panel of state officials and professionals working on a plan to allocate $278 million Alabama will receive in settlements over the opioid crisis heard presentations Wednesday from a dozen organizations that help people suffering from addiction.
The Oversight Commission on Alabama Opioid Settlement Funds held its third public hearing at the Alabama State House.
Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, who chairs the commission, said the money is expected to come in over several years. Reynolds, who chairs the General Fund budget committee in the House, said the state has about $28 million on hand now. He expects the Legislature to appropriate the money incrementally, as it is received, and said he is working with Attorney General Steve Marshall, who negotiated the settlements with companies that manufactured and sold opioid painkillers.
The Legislature allocated $10 million of the funds last year, $8.5 million to the Alabama Department of Mental Health to fund a competitive grant program for community organizations that provide opioid prevention and $1.5 million to the Department of Corrections for opioid and substance abuse treatment.
Public and private organizations made presentations to the commission on Wednesday. Among those were the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, the Alabama District Attorneys Association, and several organizations that help people with addictions.
Reynolds said the panel would have one more public hearing in February, followed by work sessions to discuss how to use the money.
“It’s a long process,” Reynolds said after Wednesday’s four-hour hearing. “But when you hear the kind of work people are doing, it’s worth it sitting here listening to this. And I think it helps formulate our mindset in developing that plan.”
Reynolds said the commission would also use work done by the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey in 2017.
Drug overdose deaths have surged in Alabama and across the nation. In Jefferson County, about 400 people died of overdoses in 2021, with the opioid fentanyl a factor in more than three-fourths of those deaths.
The legislative session begins Tuesday.
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