(The Center Square) — As the Pennsylvania Opioid Trust changes its director, an outgoing state lawmaker wants the nation’s attention focused on victims of addiction and what can be done to make the state a better place in the coming years.
“Our goal has been to get that money out as quickly as possible because Pennsylvanians are dying and the families of those who have died are counting on us to get to work to turn the tide that the opioid crisis has caused,” said Rep. Jim Gregory, a Republican from Hollidaysburg.
Gregory, who has spoken about his struggles with drug addiction, was appointed to the trust by a member of the House of Representatives in August 2022. He lost re-election in April, and Rep. Jim Struzzi took over as director in July.
Despite some delays in county project approvals, he sees the trust carrying out its duties effectively.
“I think Pennsylvania has done a much better job than other states,” Gregory said. “We’ve just been aware of the smarts to not repeat the mistakes that other states have made.”
He argued that to make the trust function better, there needs to be more communication between the trust and county leadership.
“It’s a partnership between the board and the county government, which is tasked with figuring out how to spend that money in a timely manner,” Gregory said. “I think we can work together better.”
Some of the issues may be growing pains. Several counties plan to go through the appeals process to challenge the trust’s rulings that some spending wasn’t authorized. Somerset County’s first hearing in early September left the trust’s decision unchanged, though the county still praised the effort. Issues may emerge in the future as local leaders see what other groups are doing.
“We all need to make sure that this money is being used to compensate families, victims and the damage that has been done to our economy,” Gregory said. “We also recognize the ripple effect that we’re all paying for … everyone in Pennsylvania is affected by this and that’s where this money is intended to be.”
While most of the funding will be spent by county governments, the state Legislature will also decide how to spend some of the $1 billion that will be pumped into Pennsylvania over the next 18 years.
Gregory had proposed a grant program to support recovery services that was ultimately passed by the House as part of a separate bill from Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-Pittsburgh, but has since been pending in the Senate. Time is running out for the Legislature.
Gregory noted that the program could be funded through opioid settlement money, but with so little time left in the session, that could expire.
“There are some opportunities right now where we could potentially put that money to work, and it’s important to me because this is my bill,” Gregory said, “but right now I don’t have a good feeling about the prospects for it. That’s unfortunate.”
Pennsylvania has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the state, with more than 5,000 residents dying each year for the past few years, but there’s hope that won’t continue in the future: Drug overdose deaths have fallen about 11% nationwide, according to public health data.
“After a sharp increase in 2022, we project emergency department visits for opioid overdoses to fall to their lowest level in a decade in the second half of 2023,” wrote Navarun Dasgupta of the University of North Carolina, who studied Allegheny County.
State leadership priorities are important to ensure funds are spent appropriately, and local priorities are important too.
Gregory noted that while county officials have been quick to spend money on farmland preservation, they have been slow to figure out how to spend the opioid settlement money.
“Imagine how local farmers would feel if we didn’t use that money for land conservation,” Gregory says. “If we treated it the same way we treated land conservation, I think you would understand they would be more proactive.”
Local support and criticism may be key. If the community doesn’t solve the problem, leaders won’t focus on it.
“There should be no excuse for not treating the opioid settlement money as important before it runs out,” Gregory said.
