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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 12, 2023 09:31 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Andrew Kuzma |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Improving the transparency of the use of funding from the Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust |
| Pennsylvania’s Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust was created in 2022 for the purpose of overseeing opioid-related settlement funds that will be paid to the Commonwealth, our counties and local governments over the next two decades. Under the trust order, 85% of the settlement funds that come to Pennsylvania are distributed directly to counties and local governments. While this ensures funding for opioid treatment and abatement makes it into all of our communities across the state, it also means that funding may be used in a variety of different ways. In order to provide transparency into how Pennsylvania’s opioid settlement funds are spent, I will be introducing legislation to require the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) to create an annual report on the use of these funds. Counties and local governments are required to submit reports to the trust each year and my legislation will simply require DDAP to aggregate these reports. By reviewing how counties and local governments are putting their opioid settlement funds to use, the annual report will be useful in informing the General Assembly how to best allocate the Commonwealth’s share of these dollars. Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB1694