Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council allocates Publicis funds for SMART, approves vendor spending and clears path to contract with HUSL/MTSU

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council on Jan. 23 held a 100% virtual emergency meeting and took several funding and contracting actions, including setting aside 35% of a Publicis settlement to pay for the council-backed SMART initiative for two years, approving a second-year amendment for the council’s SaaS vendor, denying a multi-year funding request from UT Memphis, and authorizing staff to negotiate contracting details with HUSL Recovery and Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) to resolve vehicle procurement issues.

The council, chaired by Dr. Steven Lloyd, said the emergency meeting was necessary to expedite planning and community grant application timelines. Council members moved through a roll-call vote to confirm the meeting’s necessity before addressing funding and contracting items.

Why it matters: The council’s choices direct settlement dollars and grant contracts that fund treatment, outreach and support services across Tennessee. The decisions will affect how much money counties receive, whether the SMART initiative is funded from a publisher settlement, how vendor costs eat into administrative overhead, and whether grant programs that rely on vans for client transport can be executed under the proposed recipients.

Publicis settlement and SMART initiative: The council voted to set aside 35% of the Publicis settlement proceeds—$3,227,121.07—specifically to cover the SMART initiative for the next two years, with the remainder of the Publicis settlement to be dispersed by the council at a later date. Dr. Clay Jackson moved the measure; Ken Moore seconded. The motion passed on a roll-call vote.

SaaS vendor amendment: The council approved a second-year amendment to continue using the council’s SaaS system. Staff said the SaaS system fee is approximately $446,000 for system access and an additional $155,426.25 is projected for 2025 service hours. The council also noted $111,968 in unused service hours from 2024. Staff calculated that adding the 2025 service-hour costs would bring the council’s administrative overhead to about 3.92%. The motion to approve the funding passed on roll call.

UT Memphis funding: A motion to withhold approval of the proposed UT Memphis grant contract passed. Council members raised questions about the program budget, which appears to allocate substantial portions to personnel line items. Council members also disclosed conflicts: Dr. Clay Jackson recused himself because of his faculty appointment at the University of Tennessee, and another member indicated a similar faculty affiliation.

MTSU and HUSL Recovery contracting path: The council discussed two previously approved grant awards that relied on MTSU as the fiscal agent and HUSL Recovery as direct service provider. Staff reported that MTSU’s procurement and legal policies would not allow MTSU to take title to vans (required by the grants for client transport) because of lien-related issues. To resolve that barrier, the council authorized staff to negotiate directly with HUSL Recovery and MTSU to develop contract language that would address ownership, liens and accountability, and to obtain reviews from the Tennessee Comptroller and the Attorney General’s office before final execution. The motion to authorize negotiations passed (roll-call: 11 yes, 3 no, 1 abstain).

Process, next steps and public comment: Staff will draft letters of agreement for counties and continue negotiations with MTSU and HUSL. The council also heard public comment from an attorney in Knoxville who urged the council to consider long-term developmental impacts of prenatal opioid exposure and the information provided to pregnant people receiving medication-assisted treatment.

Votes at a glance (formal actions recorded): - Emergency meeting necessity determination — motion carried (roll-call vote). - Motion to set aside 35% ($3,227,121.07) of the Publicis settlement to fund the SMART initiative for two years — motion carried (roll-call vote). - Approval of second-year SaaS service-hour funding (additional $155,426.25) — motion carried (roll-call vote). - Motion to not move forward with UT Memphis funding as proposed — motion carried (roll-call vote); two council members recused for faculty affiliations. - Motion authorizing OAC staff to negotiate contracting with HUSL Recovery and MTSU to resolve vehicle procurement and lien issues — motion carried (11 yes, 3 no, 1 abstain).

The council adjourned and scheduled its next meeting for March 3, 2025.