West Virginia First Foundation still working on public transparency policy
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CHARLESTON -- The public/private foundation tasked with allocating hundreds of millions of dollars of opioid settlement dollars is still working on a meeting and transparency policy.
The West Virginia First Foundation held a virtual meeting over Microsoft Teams Monday afternoon with its directors. They gathered for the first time on Nov. 6.
The foundation voted to go into executive session to talk privately about what a meeting and transparency policy should look like.
"We want to put together a really good meeting and transparency policy that gives (the public) comfort that we are being good stewards with their money, and that we're here to help," said foundation President Matt Harvey, the prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County. "I don't think we're at a position to go forward on it today. It's still a work in progress, and I think any further discussion of it would be most appropriate in the executive session."
Representatives of the cities and counties involved in opioid litigation - as well as the West Virginia Attorney General's Office - agreed to a memorandum of understanding last year to create the private foundation, as well as a formula for distributing settlement awards. The MOU included all 55 counties and more than 220 cities.
The foundation consists of 11 members, with five members appointed by Gov. Jim Justice and six representing regions of the state. The West Virginia First program will divide settlement dollars from opioid manufacturers and distributors, with 24.5% going to cities and counties, 3% to the Attorney General's Office and 72.5% to the West Virginia First Foundation.
"I know that it's a desire of this board to be as transparent as possible with the public and to create appropriate policies to ensure that's done," Harvey said. "We understand that this is a unique foundation. The proceeds were entrusted to us by the counties and municipalities, and that took a great deal of faith on their part. And we want to make sure that we're good stewards, and so we're doing our best."
Approximately $940 million has been secured in settlements with multiple opioid manufacturers, distributors and prescribers, though that is the gross dollar amount. The final amounts are still being negotiated, with some to go toward attorney fees.
The net amount will come in tranches over the next several years. Some of the first dollars - $73.5 million - will be going directly to the cities and counties per the West Virginia First distribution formula.
Foundation members heard Monday from Jonathan Adler, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties, regarding concerns being raised by cities and counties on how to best spend their portion of opioid settlement dollars. Adler cited issues with the $678 million distributed to counties and cities from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act as an example of what local governments wish to avoid.
"We need to be thoughtful rolling this out to make sure it's used effectively and everybody's up to speed as to how the process is going to work," Adler said. "I know you're still working through that right now, so we certainly want to do anything we can to help you with that process, so to speak."
"To be clear with everyone, we don't have the authority to oversee how the counties and the municipalities spend their direct funds," Harvey said. "But I think we would be inclined to help support the counties and the municipalities to maximize the return on their future investments with this settlement fund."
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce and Raleigh County Commissioner Greg Duckworth both spoke about the need to be able to work with counties and cities to maximize the potential of the millions of dollars that will be available to help reverse the state's substance use disorder crisis fueled in part by the millions of prescription opioids that flooded the state over the last 20 years.
"I've had calls from some mayors that didn't even know how to figure up how much money they were going to get," Duckworth said. "That help for the counties and municipalities would really be good. I think in the grand scheme, it moves the ball the same direction."
"I think there's value in us providing some ... technical assistance or capacity building," Joyce said. "I would hate for a county or a city to spend their initial appropriation and then have some fantastic idea that they don't have anything to leverage with a larger grant from the foundation or from us or any other foundation."
Timothy Czaja, director of Berkeley County Community Corrections, raised concerns about the possibility of the foundation either advising local governments or paying for attorneys to assist counties and cities with how to best spend their opioid settlement dollars.
"We're not responsible for this going out to the municipalities and counties currently," Czaja said. "We have no oversight of that money. As far as I'm concerned, the MOU serves the purpose for any kind of guidance that the county and municipalities have. And once they have the money, if they do things with it that they shouldn't, that's on them."
The foundation voted to create an exploratory committee to work with county and city governments on opioid settlement issues. The foundation also voted to adopt conceptual language for requests for proposals for banking and investment services subject to approval by the foundation's executive committee.
The foundation directors agreed that 45 days was enough time for requests for proposals. Attorneys for the foundation are working on a website for the foundation, where RFPs will be posted. The RFPs will also be made available upon request to the attorneys. The website for the foundation could be up by the end of this week.
As of the end of last week, the foundation has more than $217 million in settlement funds, which have earned more than $104,000 in interest. The foundation's first payables for its accounting firm and attorneys will be due soon.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com