CHARLESTON – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says West Virginia cities and counties could begin seeing money from the state’s opioid settlements in a matter of months.
“We’re going to push to make this process go as quickly as possible,” Morrisey told The West Virginia Record.
“Most certainly the the end of the year,” he said when asked if it would happen by the end of 2023. “I hope in the upcoming months.”
On May 4, Morrisey announced a $68 million settlement with Kroger. That, he said, signals the end of the state’s current batch of litigation with manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies.
“And it allows additional resources to be focused on ensuring the money being brought in will be spent the right way,” Morrisey told The Record. “We can be of assistance to the cities, counties and the foundation as it gets off the ground.”
But, he said a few things have to happen first.
“First, we have to resolve some final issues related to attorney’s fees and court costs,” Morrisey said of some of the settlements. “I expect that to happen relatively soon.
“Second, there is ongoing mediation between the counties and cities about some of the shares. I understand that’s now complete except for one. That’s Martinsburg and Berkeley County figuring out how they’ll split their monies.”
And then, he said the six regions across the state created under the West Virginia First Foundation Memorandum of Understanding have to set up elections for who will serve as board members on the foundation. Those six members will sit with five gubernatorial appointees who are confirmed by the state Senate.
“This plan has been agreed upon by all 55 counties, virtually every city, every Republican and Democrat in Legislature and by the governor,” Morrisey said. “It’s bipartisan, and we believe it will be key because it’s important to attack this problem holistically.”
“We are focusing on the next steps. We also have to figure out how to do the needs assessment and to ensure the monies are going to be spent wisely.”
Gov. Jim Justice recently signed Senate Bill 674 into law that established the West Virginia First Foundation, a private non-stock non-profit entity to distribute opioid funds. The foundation’s Articles of Incorporation will be filed soon, he said.
“And we have put out, on our end, an RFP to look for an executive director to run the foundation,” Morrisey said. “It’s out for bid, then that process to identify someone.
“All of these things will be happening in real time over the next two months.”
He said when the board sits, it actually won’t be sitting. It will hit the ground running.
“It will work on the needs assessment, the budget, where the resources should go,” Morrisey said. “We’re excited about it. It represents a chance to begin the healing.”
The foundation will be responsible for overseeing the nearly $1 billion the state has received in opioid settlements. Of that, 24.5 percent of the monies will go directly to the 55 counties and nearly 300 municipalities across the state. The foundation will decide how 72.5 percent of the money will be used, and 3 percent will be held in escrow.
The settlement money will be paid to the state in a variety of ways. Some of the agreements have a large lump sum paid in the first year with smaller amounts paid for years after that. Some of them have 15-year terms, some are shorter.
While some states already have begun using money from opioid settlements, Morrisey said West Virginia’s separate negotiations from the national settlement slowed that down for the state. But, he said it was worth it because the state received larger settlements from the companies in the end.
“We effectively doubled up the national average,” Morrisey said. “And I want the public to know what’s going on. It’s important that they know we’ve been able to get a lot of big things done. We’re making big progress.
“It all is really important right now in light of the huge amounts of fentanyl coming into our state. It’s killing our citizens. It’s particularly timely to have this all set up quickly.”