The board has paused further allocating the state’s settlement funds as a result of the legislature’s actions.
Editor’s note: Gov. Laura Kelly line-item vetoed allocations made by the legislature using the state’s opioid settlement funds in the budget bill.
Members of the Kansas Fights Addiction Board have sent a letter to state lawmakers and the governor’s office in response to lawmakers allocating funds without the board’s approval.
The board is in charge of allocating opioid settlement funds, money that is part of national legal settlements against prescription opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies. The state of Kansas expects to receive more than $340 million over the next 18 years.
Lawmakers during budget hearings last month decided to give several programs, mostly in northeast Kansas, nearly $8 million, circumventing the process set up by the board to allocate the funds.
Tags: Funding Legislation Opioid Epidemic Programs Settlement
