Bill creating fund, council for opioid settlement funds signed into law
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios signed into law on Friday a bill that seeks to establish a fund from opioid settlement monies and a council to oversee funding for substance abuse treatment programs in the CNMI.
In signing House Bill No. 23-80 into Public Law No. 23-19, Palacios, however, noted two concerns with the bill raised by the Office of the Attorney General.
The governor told Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) and House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) in a letter that first, because the Judiciary is not represented on the council, funding may be diverted toward substance abuse programs housed within the executive branch rather than to the Drug Court.
Further, Palacios said, the governor as a member of the council might be precluded from voting on many matters by conflict of interest rules because the Community Guidance Center and Hinemlu Ohala Para Enteramenti (HOPE) Recovery Center are within the Office of the Governor.
Second, the governor said, the bill’s requirement that the attorney general promulgate regulations to implement the controlling court order may be duplicative of the court order itself.
Palacios urged the Legislature to consider future legislation to amend these provisions.
House vice speaker Rep. Joel C. Camacho (Ind-Saipan) introduced House Bill 23-80 last Oct. 5. The House unanimously passed the legislation that same day. The Senate passed it without amendments last March 12.
Camacho stated in the bill that the CNMI anticipates receiving substantial payments from the settlement of litigation against the manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioid analgesics, pharmacies dispensing prescription opioid analgesics, and related parties for allegedly contributing to high rates of drug overdoses and other drug-related harms.
Camacho said the bill establishes a dedicated fund for substance abuse disorder abatement, and creates a council to handle the award of monies to agencies that engage in substance abuse disorder abatement.
Under the legislation, the Opioid Litigation Proceeds Fund is established in the Commonwealth treasury. It will be administered by the Department of Finance.
Joel C. Camacho
