Committee gives favorable review to attorney general's opioid settlement expenditure plan

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee voted to give a favorable review to the attorney general's opioid settlement expenditure plan, approving the distribution approach that implements the FY2026 appropriation of $10,000,000 in settlement proceeds.

Gordon Robertson of JLVC staff introduced the item, telling members: "By way of background members, as a result of litigation against numerous pharmaceutical manufacturers and advertisers, the state will be receiving a portion of proceeds from all of those settlements over the next perhaps 15 years." He said the 1 Arizona agreement "restricts expenditures to a list of 98 allowable expenditures," and noted that the FY2026 budget "appropriated $10,000,000 from those opioid settlement revenues to the attorney general for distribution of $2,000,000 each to 5 select counties. Those are Coconino, Mojave, Navajo, Pinal, and Yavapai."

Vice Chair moved the motion for a favorable review, and the chair called for the ayes; the chair stated, "It appears the ayes have it, do have it, so ordered." The committee did not record roll-call vote names in the transcript.

A vice chair commented in support of the approach, saying, "I think the programs that they're doing through the jails are very effective. I think it's good use of money. This is not the first time we've done this. It's a continuation of what we've done in the past." The committee offered no additional conditions in the discussion recorded in the transcript.

Why it matters: the 1 Arizona agreement governs how state and local entities may spend opioid settlement monies and limits uses to specified categories; the committee's favorable review clears the attorney general's plan to distribute the FY2026 appropriation to the named counties. The transcript does not record further details about the plan's programmatic spending breakdowns beyond the named counties and the statutory constraint to the 98 allowable expenditures.

Next steps: the committee's favorable review was recorded during the meeting; the transcript does not specify subsequent administrative steps or a timetable for disbursement.