State opioid commission talks to Louisville Public Media about new reporting requirements for local governments

The state’s opioid commission is changing the way it tracks how millions in opioid settlement money are being spent, and Morgan Watkins with Louisville Public Media talks to the opioid commission’s executive director, Chris Evans, about the changes.

The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission was created in 2021by the legislature to distribute the state’s portion of the now more than $980 million in settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors, which are being paid in installments. Half of the settlement monies goes to the state, and the other half goes to cities and counties. The commission is housed in the attorney general’s office.

Last year, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting found that most of the cities and counties that had received settlement funds had not complied with the state’s reporting requirements for how they spend their money.

Since, the state’s opioid commission has set up a new process for local governments to provide details of their spending, with plans to make that information easily accessible to Kentuckians, Watkins reports.

Evans told Watkings that the key changes involve moving the reporting requirements from a quarterly requirement to an annual requirement, requiring more details about how the funds are being able to use the website to access the reporting process.

“I like to remind people always that this is blood money, and of those families who have suffered from the scourge of the drug crisis, they deserve to know how these one-time resources are being spent reasonably,” he told Watkins.