AN ACT establishing an opioid abatement fund for any opioid settlement funds received by the state of north carolina and appropriating a portion of these funds to the department of health and human services, division of mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services, for the establishment of an opioid overdose prevention pilot program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  The Opioid Abatement Fund is established as an interest‑bearing special fund. All funds received by the State as a beneficiary of the final consent judgment resolving the case, State of North Carolina, ex rel. Joshua H. Stein, Plaintiff v. McKinsey and Company, Inc., in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, shall be deposited into the Fund pursuant to G.S. 114‑2.4A. Moneys in the Fund shall be used to (i) cover the costs incurred by the State in investigating and pursuing the claims in this case and (ii) remediate the harms caused to North Carolina and its citizens by the opioid epidemic.

SECTION 1.(b)  Funds deposited into the Opioid Abatement Fund do not constitute an appropriation made by law, as that phrase is used in Section 7(1) of Article V of the North Carolina Constitution.

SECTION 1.(c)  All funds received by the State as a beneficiary of the final consent judgment resolving the case, State of North Carolina, ex rel. Joshua H. Stein, Plaintiff v. McKinsey and Company, Inc., in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Wake County, and deposited into the Opioid Abatement Fund shall remain unspent until appropriated by an act of the General Assembly.

SECTION 2.(a)  There is appropriated from the Opioid Abatement Fund established pursuant to Section 1 of this act to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, the sum of four million dollars ($4,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year. The Department shall use these funds to support the establishment and operation of a one‑year opioid overdose prevention pilot program that serves the purpose of educating the public about opioid use disorder and overdose through public service announcements and the dissemination of other educational materials to the public. In developing this pilot program, the Department may explore the possibility of public‑private partnerships to accomplish the purpose of the pilot program.

SECTION 2.(b)  By March 1, 2023, the Department shall study and report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services on the effectiveness of the pilot program and any public‑private partnerships approved by the Department as part of the pilot program.

SECTION 2.(c)  This section becomes effective July 1, 2021.

SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.