Over the last few years, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the nation’s most extensive lawsuits to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for the nation’s opioid epidemic. 

Those lawsuits will ultimately bring in more than $265 million for opioid mitigation efforts in New York state alone.  

But the money has yet to start flowing to addiction programs and opioid treatment centers that need it to serve the thousands of New Yorkers who are facing addiction issues. 

There are several reasons for the delay.

In order to determine how to spend the money, the state Legislature created an Opioid Settlement Board (OSB) last year, but most of the board members have yet to be named. Additionally, a chapter amendment has not yet been signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul, delaying the implementation of the OSB’s mission.

John Coppola, executive director of New York State Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, is confident the governor will act soon.

“When the Legislature came back to session, the negotiation (over the chapter amendment) had to take place with a new governor. I would imagine there were some minor changes that had to be made to the chapter amendment,” Coppola said. “Both the Senate and the Assembly have since passed it. I believe it’s pretty close to being signed, so we’re getting close.”

The changes in the chapter amendment include an expansion of the board from 19 members to 21 members.

Coppola told Capital Tonight that he isn’t concerned that the chapter amendment hasn’t yet been signed, nor that most of the advisory board members have yet to be named.

“My sense is that the work necessary to identify people has been done,” he said. “The Association of Counties has advanced a list; they are part of the equation. And I know that the governor’s office has already sort of been vetting people and doing the necessary research to make sure about background checks and those kinds of things.”

That said, Coppola agrees the sooner the OSB is put into place, the better.

“Here we are in the middle of budget season. It would have been nice if this was done beforehand, but again, with a major transition…it’s understandable it’s taken more time,” he explained.

Under the rules of the opioid settlement agreement, the funds will go to pay for addiction prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction.

Coppola and other advocates were pleased by Gov. Hochul’s executive budget proposal, which includes a significant increase in funding for the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). But Coppola is especially concerned about paying and retaining the workforce that underpins the treatment and recovery programs New Yorkers need.

According to Coppola’s calculation, the substance abuse workforce would be making 30% more today if it had been working under cost-of-living adjustment for the past 12 years. 

“We’ve been in this crisis for a decade plus.  The previous governor did next to nothing — next to nothing in terms of a substantial increase,” Coppola said. “So, we have an opportunity with the Governor’s (Hochul) budget, again, for the first time, there are resources.  If her budget moves, and it looks like it will, significantly, then you have an opportunity for the committee to come together and do the work that they need to do.”

Emailed questions from Capital Tonight to Gov. Hochul office about both the chapter amendment and her appointees to the Opioid Settlement Board did not receive a response.