CHICAGO, Ill. – State officials are announcing what they call “next steps” now that a federal settlement with manufacturers of opioids has been reached.
Illinois expects to get $760 million over the next 18 years from the $26 billion settlement, and that in part is leading to an executive order from Governor JB Pritzker.
“This executive order establishes an office of opioid settlement administration, and cements a framework for making the best use of these new resources. It builds on the substantial work of Illinois’ existing opioid steering committee,” led by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and others.
State officials say they’ve already worked with county attorneys general to make sure that the funds are distributed and spent equitably, working on getting rid of the opioid epidemic, including helping people who’ve transitioned from being addidted to opioids, to being addicted to heroin.
“There is a 70 percent amount that is mandated to go towards abating the crisis,” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “When you think of historical settlements like the tobacco settlement, there was flexibility in how you spend the money.” That was the result of federal negotiations with states over the settlement money.
Fifteen percent of the settlement will go toward local governments, and another fifteen to the state.
This is the second largest settlement since the tobacco lawsuit settlement.
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