Committee narrows opioid‑settlement and rural‑health allocations, directs prevention funds for selected programs

Members of the Joint Fiscal Committee debated how best to allocate opioid settlement and rural health transformation funding for recovery residences, peer recovery services and prevention programs, ultimately approving a set of directions to staff and the Department of Health while deferring some decisions for later review.

The committee spent most of the session reviewing a memo from Veil Livingston that linked rural health transformation grant priorities to several line items in the committee’s packet. Livingston’s memo, circulated to members, recommended coordinating allocations so that related requests — notably two items tied to recovery residences — would be managed through a single process, a staff member said.

Committee members pressed for documentation and a spreadsheet showing prior spending. One member said a $200,000 allocation from last year had produced only $23,000 in expenditures, prompting calls for clearer accounting before increasing any line item. “I asked for the breakdown of the 200,000 from last…