Committee reviews H.218 proposal and state opioid abatement fund after fiscal office maps prior appropriations

A committee meeting on H.218 and the state's opioid settlement spending heard detailed briefings from fiscal staff and legislative counsel on the structure of the opioid abatement special fund and the status of prior appropriations.

"What this is, this is an attempt. Try to put all the information that you might need in front of you. I call it a draft because I keep finding little typos and stuff like that," said Noel Langdon, Fiscal Office, as staff walked committee members through a spreadsheet comparing appropriations made from opioid settlement proceeds since 2023 with the current H.218 proposal.

The fiscal presentation laid out the fund receipts and prior appropriations that the committee must weigh. Langdon reported $25,900,000 in settlement payments plus about $167,000 in interest for a total revenue figure of approximately $26,100,000. He said about $14,000,000 had been appropriated across acts from 2023–2025, with roughly $1,200,000 spent, about $10.7 million obligated but unspent, and about $12,000,000 unobligated on the ledger. H.218, as introduced, would propose roughly $9.9 million in new appropriations…