SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve an Interlocal Agreement with Pinellas County, the City of St. Petersburg, and the City of Pinellas Park for the distribution of settlement funds from opioid litigation and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
As a result of the national opioid crisis, many governmental entities throughout the country filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers (hereinafter referred to as the “defendants”) to hold them accountable for the damage caused by their misfeasance, nonfeasance and malfeasance, as well as to recover monetary damages for past harm and financial compensation for ongoing and future abatement efforts.
The City of Clearwater, as well as the City of St. Petersburg, the City of Pinellas Park (hereinafter referred to as the “MDL Cities”) and the County each hired litigation counsel and individually elected to file suit against the defendants. These lawsuits were consolidated with other lawsuits filed by state, tribal and local governmental entities into what is known as the National Prescription Opiate Litigation in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, case number 1:17-MD-2804. As a result of this litigation, multiple defendants have begun to negotiate settlements.
The Attorney General for the State of Florida (hereinafter “Attorney General”) anticipates that Settlement funds will be distributed to the State of Florida over multiple years as part of a global settlement, and not directly to the MDL Cities and County, despite their position as party plaintiffs, and the Attorney General has proposed entering into agreements with local governments within the State of Florida to receive Settlement funds. This agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “State MOU”), as currently drafted, divides settlement funds into three portions designated as City/County, Regional and State funds.
It is anticipated that the State MOU will set forth the amount and manner of distribution of City/County and Regional Settlement funds within Florida, the requirements to receive and manage Regional funds, and the purposes for which Regional funds may be used. The current draft of the State MOU is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The parties recognize that local control over Settlement funds is in the best interest of all persons within the geographic boundaries of Pinellas County and ensures that Settlement funds are available and used to address opioid-related impacts within Pinellas County and are, therefore, committed to the County qualifying as a “Qualified County” and thereby receiving Regional funds pursuant to the State MOU.
The State MOU requires that in order for Pinellas County to become a Qualified County eligible to receive Regional Funding, there must be an interlocal agreement among Pinellas County and Municipalities, as defined in the MOU, with combined population exceeding 50% of the total population of the Municipalities within Pinellas County, with the term “Municipalities” being defined for the purpose in this Agreement as those municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more as required by the State MOU; or with population less than 10,000 who were party plaintiffs; population for purposes of the MOU is determined by specific Census data.
The Agreement provides for an Opioid Abatement Funding Advisory Board that will determine guidelines for the use of the funding in accordance with the requirements of the State MOU. The Board will be comprised of one member from each of the parties (St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Clearwater and Pinellas County), along with the Director of the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County or designee or someone with subject matter expertise in public health or addiction and is not employed by a provider of opioid-related services in Pinellas County, and appointed by the four other members of the Board if the Department of Health declines to participate.
The recommendations of the Board must be presented to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, who shall accept the recommendations unless at least five of the seven members of the BOCC reject such recommendations.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT: N/A