County hears state briefing on opioid settlement funds as supervisors vote to indefinitely postpone proposed opioid task force

Michelle Hayes, director of Substance Use Initiatives and a policy adviser at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, told the Manitowoc County Board on Tuesday that federal litigation settlements tied to prescription opioids provide money that must be used to abate the opioid epidemic and related harms.

Hayes said Wisconsin expects to receive hundreds of millions of dollars through the national opioid litigation and described how the state and local governments must follow Exhibit E of the settlement agreements and state law (2021 Wisconsin Act 57) when they spend the money. “Dollars only come to us because of lives that have been lost,” Hayes said. She reminded officials that the state’s share is distributed and overseen by DHS, and that 70% of settlement dollars go directly to participating counties and municipalities.

The presentation mattered because the board considered a resolution to create a county opioid task force to recommend how the county should use its settlement money and to provide public oversight. Supporters said the panel would increase transparency and coordinate county departments and community partners; opponents said the county already has effective, functioning oversight through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and human services structures and that a task force would duplicate work.

Why it matters: Several speakers with roles in the criminal justice and recovery systems told the board the county’s existing drug court, human…