County board declines to create opioid task force after DHS briefing and strong public comments

The Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors voted 11–10 on a motion to postpone indefinitely a resolution (No. 72) that would have created a county opioid task force, effectively ending consideration of the proposal.

The vote followed a presentation by Michelle Hayes, director of substance use initiatives and a policy advisor at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, on how national opioid litigation settlement funds flow to Wisconsin and the allowable uses for those funds. Hayes told the board the settlement funds exist to “abate the opioid epidemic” and described reporting requirements and examples of how state funds have been used in Manitowoc County.

Hayes said the national litigation (MDL case 2804) and subsequent settlements have produced money for Wisconsin and that state law (Wisconsin Act 57) and settlement Exhibit E limit how funds may be used. “The dollars support services. They support persons,” Hayes said. She told supervisors the state receives 30% of settlement payments and subdivisions that participated receive 70%; local governments must report annually under the statute Hayes cited.

Nut graf: The item put county oversight and transparency in tension with a broad set of community partners who urged supervisors not to create an additional oversight body…