ON MAY 4, 2021, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1132, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 rewrites this bill to establish the opioid abatement fund, enact the "Opioid Abatement Council Act", enact the "Tennessee Opioid Abatement Act", and authorize the attorney general and reporter to settle claims against opioid manufacturers.OPIOID ABATEMENT FUND This amendment establishes the opioid abatement fund (the "fund") to operate as an irrevocable trust administered by the state treasurer. Funds in the opioid abatement fund shall be spent only for the following purposes: (1) Prospective opioid abatement and remediation; (2) Expenses incurred in administering and operating the opioid abatement council; (3) Payment of salaries and compensation of staff of the opioid abatement council; and (4) Expenses associated with administering, investing, and disbursing funds held in the opioid abatement fund. Funds in the fund may not be used to reimburse expenditures incurred prior to the date that this bill becomes a law or to pay litigation costs, expenses, or attorney fees arising from the enforcement of legal claims related to the opioid epidemic. Any fund disbursements must be made at the direction of the opioid abatement council. The following persons will serve as trustees of the fund: (1) The commissioner of finance and administration; (2) The state treasurer; and (3) The chair of the opioid abatement council. The fund is the designated repository of funds that are either dedicated to opioid abatement or remediation or are otherwise directed to abatement or remediation and that are received by the state pursuant to a judgment on opioid-related claims, a recovery in bankruptcy on opioid-related claims, or a settlement of opioid-related claims. The full text of this amendment specifies procedural requirements for establishing investment policies for the fund.OPIOID ABATEMENT COUNCIL This amendment creates the Tennessee opioid abatement council (the "council"), which will be composed of 15 appointed voting members and the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services who will serve as a nonvoting ex-officio member. The full text of this amendment specifies qualifications for appointment to the council and various procedural requirements for the operation of the council. The council will be appointed as follows: (1) The governor shall appoint four members, including the chair; (2) The speaker of the senate shall appoint four members; (3) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint four members; (4) The Tennessee County Services Association shall appoint two members; and (5) The Tennessee Municipal League shall appoint member. Initial council terms will be staggered and subsequent terms will be for three years. The council members serve without compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for the member's actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the member's official duties, including travel expenses. The council will terminate when all opioid abatement monies being paid pursuant to existing settlements, judgments, or court orders have been received and disbursed unless the attorney general and reporter certifies that additional funds are anticipated within one year. Also, the council will be scheduled to terminate under the governmental entity review laws on June 30, 2023. The council is exempt from the contested case procedures in the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. If a court has entered a consent judgment agreed to by the state through the approval of the attorney general and reporter that incorporates a statewide opioid settlement agreement or a state-subdivision opioid abatement agreement, and such an agreement provides for the court in which the consent judgment was filed to determine particular disputes, the court that entered the consent judgment shall have exclusive jurisdiction over such disputes. Otherwise actions to disburse funds are final. For proceeds received from a statewide opioid settlement agreement with McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, or Johnson & Johnson or affiliates or subsidiaries of these entities that are deposited in the fund, the council is required to disburse 35 percent of these proceeds to counties that join the settlement and the remaining 65 percent of such proceeds for statewide, regional, or local opioid abatement and remediation purposes. Proceeds disbursed to counties will be allocated according to data measuring the impact of the opioid crisis at the county level. The allocation may be set in a state-subdivision opioid abatement agreement. If there is no agreement, the council will determine the allocation using population to determine half of the allocation and state data on opioid sales measured by morphine milligram equivalents, fatal overdoses, and non-fatal overdoses to determine the other half of the allocation. The council will use aggregate data for at least three years and will update the data every four years. If any of these sets of data are not available, the council may use the remaining data sets or substitute another set of data that reflects the impact of the opioid crisis. Funds allocated to a county pursuant to this amendment must be spent on opioid abatement and remediation purposes that are: (1) Specifically approved by the council; or (2) Included on a council list of approved programs. The full text of this amendment specifies various duties of the council with regard to oversight of counites' use of funds that are distributed pursuant to this amendment. This bill requires the department of mental health and substance abuse to serve as staff to the council and recommend to the council a candidate to serve as executive director of the council. The full text of this amendment specifies procedural requirements for the selection of the executive director. This amendment authorizes the commissioner to hire two full-time employees to staff the council in addition to the director and hire additional staff upon approval of the council. This amendment requires the council to: (1) Direct the disbursement of funds held in the fund by decisions approved by at least a majority of the entire membership of the council; and (2) Create an annual report for the prior fiscal year that details the total funds deposited into the fund, the abatement strategies funded, and any disbursement or expenses paid from the opioid abatement fund. This amendment exempts the council is exempt from present law related to procurement.TENNESSEE OPIOID ABATEMENT ACT This amendment requires that any funds obtained pursuant to a statewide opioid settlement agreement are distributed pursuant to the agreement and any relevant provisions of a state-subdivision opioid abatement agreement. This amendment defines "state-subdivision opioid abatement agreement" to mean an agreement entered into by the state and one or more subdivisions of the state that addresses the allocation of funds dedicated to opioid abatement. Under this amendment, upon the issuance of a declaration of a statewide opioid settlement agreement release by the attorney general and reporter, a governmental entity will not have the authority to assert, bring, or attempt to enforce a released claim against an entity released in a statewide opioid settlement agreement (a "released entity") in any legal proceeding. SETTLEMENT AUTHORITY Upon written approval of the governor and comptroller of the treasury, this amendment authorizes the attorney general and reporter to release any pending or future claim of governmental entities against McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson and affiliates, subsidiaries, and other entities related to these companies that are released in the McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson settlement agreements for activities related to the manufacture, marketing, distribution, dispensing, or sale of opioids, or related activities, if the attorney general deems the release necessary to the interest of the state in the resolution of the opioid crisis.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 70-2-224