Opioid settlement failure will be costly

Iowa has received $26.8 million from legal settlements with major opioid manufacturers whose products caused harm, addiction and death in Iowa and across the nation. Over the next several years, Iowa is slated to receive $144 million from settlements.

But even in a state that desperately needs to increase its substance abuse treatment capacity, Iowa lawmakers could not find agreement on how best to spend the dollars. Consequently, the $26.8 million in settlement funds remains unspent.

“The money’s just sitting there, and you have people dying from opioid abuse, and the Senate wanted to go home and they couldn’t be bothered to take up that bill,” said state Rep. Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs. “And so that money sits there, not helping anybody, and I just think that’s inexcusable.”

We agree. Lawmakers should have made using these funds a top legislative priority, not an afterthought scrapped in the legislative session’s final hours.

The Iowa Senate passed legislation that would have given the Department of Health and Human Services three-quarters of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office the rest. The Senate proposal raised questions about how the money would be spent by those agencies.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed splitting the settlement money six ways. That included $11 million to expand recovery provider and recovering housing facilities, $3 million for prevention and treatment programs and $3 million for youth substance abuse treatment. But the governor’s plan didn’t get much consideration from the Legislature.

The House amended the Senate bill to set up a n advisory council to review grant applications from service providers seeking a portion of settlement funds. The Legislature would approve grants based on the council’s recommendation. Also, $11 million would be spent on treatment units and $1.5 million would go to the attorney general.

But the advisory council concept became a point of contention between the Senate and House. The Senate took out the advisory council, but an agreement was not reached before adjournment.

So Iowa continues to lack treatment beds and adequate programs addressing drug addiction. The money will remain unspent until lawmakers take another crack in January.

This really should have been a no-brainer. The needs are obvious. The money is available. Disagreements over bureaucratic concerns should have been cast aside. Instead, Iowans dealing with addiction and their families will be forced to wait. Iowans expect better from their leaders.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com