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Senate committee asks auditor for detailed accounting of opioid‑settlement dollars
Summary
Senators advanced a resolution asking the legislative auditor for a detailed, performance‑style accounting of opioid‑settlement funds to show amounts received, parish distributions, itemized expenditures and performance metrics amid concerns that little money has been reported spent.
Vice Chair convened a committee hearing April 8 where Senator Myers introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 22 requesting the legislative auditor provide a more detailed accounting of how Louisiana is receiving, distributing and spending opioid‑settlement funds.
Myers said the resolution is aimed at “accountability, transparency” and ensuring settlement dollars reach the abatement and treatment purposes for which they were intended. She told the committee Louisiana is expected to receive roughly $600,000,000 in opioid settlement funds over the 2022–2038 period and cited the legislative auditor’s May 7, 2025 informational review to underscore the public‑health stakes.
“My constituents have lost family members to opioid use,” Myers said. She listed the types of information the resolution would request: total amount received to date; amounts distributed to each parish and sheriff; an itemized account of expenditures and their legal classification as treatment or abatement; performance and outcome metrics tied to each expenditure; each recipient’s reporting‑compliance status; unspent balances; administrative costs; and barriers to reporting and oversight.
Myers noted gaps in existing reporting: she said about $98,500,000 had been distributed to parishes and sheriffs as of October 2024 but, based on the auditor’s survey, only about $8,600,000 had been reported as spent by responding entities as of September 2024; the auditor survey had responses from 36 of 53 parishes, she said.
Senator Pressley called the resolution “much needed” and asked whether existing court‑imposed parameters and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) governing settlement dollars require outcome data, saying the request sounded more like a performance audit. Myers agreed the committee was asking for a more detailed, oversight‑focused report.
Senator Luno moved adoption of the resolution. The Vice Chair called for objections; none were raised and Senate Concurrent Resolution 22 passed by voice vote. The resolution asks the legislative auditor to provide the fuller picture laid out in the text so lawmakers can better understand where funds are going and whether they are producing intended recovery and treatment outcomes.
