Opioid settlement funds exist because people, families, and communities experienced devastating harm. Every dollar, including the interest those funds earn, should remain connected to saving lives, reducing harm, expanding care, and repairing the damage caused by the overdose crisis.
People seeking substance use treatment should not be pushed away by costs they cannot afford. Public funding and public policy should make care easier to reach, not create another barrier.
During the 2026 legislative session, the New York State Senate passed legislation addressing interest earned on opioid settlement funds and legislation limiting certain out-of-pocket costs for outpatient substance use treatment. The corresponding Assembly measures remain in committee.
Cities and counties that receive Direct Share opioid settlement funds are responsible for publishing annual information about how the money was used by November 1.
Settlement money and the interest it earns should repair the harm that created the settlements. Treatment should be affordable to use. Local spending should be transparent enough for the public to follow from receipt to outcome.
New York requires each city or county receiving Direct Share funds to tell the public how those funds were used each year and make that information available online by November 1.
As of this review, the state reporting page lists Rochester and Monroe County but does not display reporting links for either municipality. RAW will continue checking for updated public materials before and after the November 1 deadline.
You do not need to understand every accounting term or bill number. Choose the action that matches what you care about most.
Ask lawmakers to preserve the principle behind A10234A and S9278A: interest earned on opioid settlement money should remain dedicated to approved opioid-remediation purposes.
Ask lawmakers to continue pursuing protections like A3148A and S1763A so repeated out-of-pocket costs do not make ongoing substance use treatment unaffordable.
Ask Rochester and Monroe County to publish clear, current reporting showing what was received, committed, spent, reserved, awarded, and achieved.
Personal stories can help decision-makers understand how policies affect real people, but no one is required to disclose private, painful, or traumatic details. You can advocate effectively by stating your position, describing what the community needs, and asking for a specific action.
Both proposals advanced through the Senate but did not complete the legislative process during the regular 2026 session. RAW supports completing action if lawmakers reconvene or carrying these protections forward early in the next legislative session.
A10234A and S9278A would require interest earned on opioid settlement money to remain dedicated to approved opioid-remediation uses. The Senate passed S9278A on June 4, 2026. The Assembly companion remains in the Ways and Means Committee.
A3148A and S1763A would limit an insured person's cost-sharing responsibility for an outpatient substance use disorder treatment episode of care to $250. The Senate passed S1763A on June 4, 2026. The proposal remains unfinished in the Assembly Insurance Committee.
The 2025-2026 legislative term has not formally ended, but the regular 2026 session has concluded. Unless lawmakers reconvene and complete action before the term ends, these proposals will need to be introduced again in the 2027-2028 legislative session. RAW's goal is broader than preserving particular bill numbers: preserve the policies, build support early, and avoid another end-of-session bottleneck.
Ask Assembly leadership to support these policies and make them early priorities when the Legislature next acts.
Albany Office
(518) 455-3791
Speaker@nyassembly.gov
Albany Office
(518) 455-5291
PretloJ@nyassembly.gov
Albany Office
(518) 455-5806
WeprinD@nyassembly.gov
Ask your representative to support both policies, communicate that support to Assembly leadership, and help move them early rather than waiting until the end of a legislative session.
Read this as written or personalize it. You do not need to share a personal story.
Hello, my name is [name], and I live in [city or town].
During the 2026 legislative session, the Senate passed proposals to protect interest earned on opioid settlement funds and reduce cost barriers for outpatient substance use treatment. The corresponding proposals did not complete Assembly passage.
I am asking you to support these policies, complete action if the Legislature reconvenes, and carry them forward early if new legislation is needed.
Settlement money and the interest it earns should be used to repair the harm caused by the opioid crisis, and cost should not keep people from receiving treatment.
Thank you.
Rochester and Monroe County receive different opioid-related funding streams through different mechanisms. The public should be able to understand each stream without piecing together multiple budgets, audits, contracts, presentations, and meeting documents.
RAW is not claiming that settlement funds are simply sitting unused or that local governments are not funding important programs. We are asking for one understandable public accounting showing what has been received, earned in interest, appropriated, contractually committed, actually spent, reserved, awarded, and achieved.
Reported as of December 31, 2025. The comparable restricted balance was $16.156 million one year earlier.
Recorded as measurable revenue that was not yet available to finance current operations.
Reported by the County as opioid settlement revenue during the year ended December 31, 2025.
The $16.882 million deferred revenue figure is not another pot of current spendable cash. The $15.308 million restricted fund balance should not automatically be described as money simply sitting unused. The audited report does not show in one place how much of the restricted balance is uncommitted, already appropriated, contractually encumbered, or reserved for multiyear purposes. That missing reconciliation is the accountability issue.
County records identify support for services including Open Access, naloxone distribution, outreach, drug-checking supplies, the Opioid Task Force, and other addiction-related efforts. RAW is not asking whether the County has spent anything. We are asking the public to be able to see the whole picture.
The difference between revenue and recorded expenses should not automatically be called an uncommitted balance. Commitments and encumbrances may not be fully visible in that snapshot.
The City's October 2025 document listed $500,000 in projected Overdose Prevention Center Seed Money for a 2026-2027 timeframe.
RAW is asking the City to clarify whether that funding remains reserved or planned, its current status and timeline, and what steps are being taken to move an overdose prevention center forward.
Publish one current reconciliation showing receipts, interest, appropriations, contractual commitments, actual expenditures, reserves, recipients, selection methods, expected outcomes, and results for every opioid-related funding stream.
A person should not need an accounting degree, multiple public-record requests, or hours of searching government websites to understand how these funds are being used.
Settlement payments will continue over many years. Communities should be able to see how today's spending fits within a three-to-five-year strategy rather than evaluating each contract in isolation.
People with lived and living experience, families affected by overdose, frontline harm reduction workers, treatment providers, neighborhood organizations, and grassroots groups should have meaningful opportunities to shape funding priorities.
Settlement accountability is ongoing. A contract being approved or a program being funded is the beginning of the accountability cycle, not the end.
The status of Rochester's projected $500,000 and whether it remains part of the City's plan.
Updated receipts, interest, commitments, contracts, expenditures, reserves, and future payments.
Whether audited balances are tied to appropriations, contracts, expenditures, recipients, and outcomes.
Whether Rochester and Monroe County publish complete and accessible annual information by November 1.
Whether smaller community organizations have transparent and realistic pathways to compete for funding.
The future of settlement-interest protection and outpatient treatment cost-sharing legislation.
Director of Special Projects
Legislature Office
(585) 753-1950
Ask your representative to support a full public reconciliation, a multiyear spending plan, and meaningful community oversight.
Hello, my name is [name], and I live in [neighborhood, city, or town].
I am asking for clear and current public reporting on opioid settlement funds. Please publish one accounting showing what has been received, earned in interest, appropriated, contractually committed, actually spent, and reserved.
Please also identify who received funding, how recipients were selected, what outcomes are expected, and what results each investment produces. Please explain how people with lived and living experience and grassroots community organizations are included in funding decisions.
For City of Rochester: Please also provide an update on the projected $500,000 in Overdose Prevention Center Seed Money and clarify its current status and timeline.
For Rochester or Monroe County: Please make the required annual Direct Share information easy to find online by the November 1 reporting deadline.
Thank you.
Communities should be able to direct settlement resources toward evidence-informed, no-barrier services that respond to local needs and documented community priorities.
RAW supports meaningful investment in housing, harm reduction, treatment, peer support, healthcare, and other services. Transparency and support for a program are not opposites. The public should be able to support an investment and understand its cost, contract, outcomes, sustainability, and relationship to the rest of the settlement plan.
After you take action, invite someone else to do the same.
Opioid settlement funds came from devastating harm to our communities. Every dollar, including the interest those funds earn, should help save lives and repair that harm.
Recovery All Ways is asking New York lawmakers to protect settlement funds and reduce outpatient treatment costs. We are also asking Rochester and Monroe County leaders for clear public reporting, community-driven funding decisions, and results the public can evaluate.
Learn more and take action:
Protect Opioid Settlement Interest
RAW's advocacy is grounded in legislation, audited financial statements, government funding records, public reporting requirements, and documented community input.
Funding plans, contracts, legislation, public officials, reporting links, and contact information can change. RAW reviews this page regularly and updates it when meaningful new information becomes available.
Last full review: October 9, 2026
Next scheduled review: November 2026
Funding and legislative monitoring: Ongoing
RAW also supports expanding low-barrier access to methadone treatment and strengthening harm reduction services throughout our community.
Protecting settlement funds, reducing treatment costs, investing in housing and harm reduction, and demanding transparent local decisions are all part of making sure resources created by devastating harm are used to repair that harm in ways the public can see and evaluate.