Agenda - Council - 12/14/2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CC Regular Session Meeting Date: 12/14/2021 Submitted For: Kurt Ulrich,Administrative Services By: Colleen Lasher,Administrative Services Information Title Adopt Resolution#21-359 Approving the Memorandum of Agreement(MOA)Between the State of Minnesota and Local Governments and Authorizing Participation in National Opioid Settlement Purpose/Background: The City of Ramsey received a notice from the Minnesota Attorney General(see attached) in regard to participating in the National Opioid Settlement Agreement. Overview: After years of negotiations, two proposed nationwide settlement agreements ("Settlements') have been reached that would resolve all opioid litigation brought by states and local political subdivisions against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen ("Distributors'), and one manufacturer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its parent company Johnson &Johnson (collectively, "Janssen'). The proposed Settlements require the Distributors and Janssen to pay billions of dollars to abate the opioid epidemic. Specifically, the Settlements require the Distributors to pay up to $21 billion over 18 years and Janssen to pay up to $5 billion over no more than 9 years,for a total of$26 billion (the "Settlement Amount'). Of the Settlement Amount, approximately$22.7 billion is earmarked for use by participating states and subdivisions to remediate and abate the impacts of the opioid crisis. The Settlements also contain injunctive relief provisions governing the opioid marketing, sale and distribution practices at the heart of the states'and subdivisions'lawsuits and further require the Distributors to implement additional safeguards to prevent diversion of prescription opioids. Each of the proposed Settlements has two key participation steps. First, each state decides whether to participate in the Settlement. Minnesota has joined both Settlements. Second, the subdivisions within each participating state must then decide whether to participate in the Settlements. Generally, the more subdivisions that participate, the greater the amount of funds that flow to that state and its participating subdivisions. Any subdivision that does not participate cannot directly share in any of the settlement funds, even if the subdivision's state is settling and other participating subdivisions are sharing in settlement funds. This letter is part of the formal notice required by the Settlements. Allocation of Settlement Funds: The settlement funds are first divided among the participating states according to a formula developed by the Attorneys General that considers population and the severity of harm caused by the opioid epidemic in each participating state.Each state's share of the abatement funds is then further allocated within each state according to agreement between the state and its subdivisions, applicable state allocation legislation, or, in the absence of these, the default provisions in the agreements. legislation can be found on the national settlement website as well as on the Minnesota Attorney General's website. The allocation section of the national website will be supplemented as more intra-state allocation arrangements are finalized.opioidsMany states have or are in the process of reaching an agreement on how to allocate abatement funds within the states.Information about Minnesota's