Rapid City officials are questioning how to use a multi-million-dollar settlement related to generic opioids. One alderman says now is the time to build a plan.
Rapid City Is expected to benefit from a $720-million settlement against several secondary manufacturers making generic opioids along with settlements from major pharmaceutical corporations.
Ward 1 Alderman Stephen Tamang said now is the time to start planning.
“The Attorney General’s office has identified there are many groups that contributed to that, there were manufacturers, there were distributors," Tamang said. "Subsequently, there were a series of prosecutions that took place and ultimately a fairly substantial sized settlement fund – it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million – is currently controlled by an opioid advisory committee.”
Funding will be directed all over the state, including dollars directed to the largest cities.
“Mayor (Jason) Salamun responded to this by forming a committee, of which I am on, to try to find a way for those funds to come to our area and support,” Tamang said.
With that in mind, Tamang said now is the time to press forward in discussions on the use of these dollars.
“At this time, I think it’s appropriate to move those funds into the control of the committee that would be overseen by the Common Council and the mayor," Tamang said. "So, my motion is to allocate current and future opioid settlement funds to the opioid settlement committee that has already been established.”
Currently, there is roughly a half-million in the fund for Rapid City.
That proposal was approved, and fund requests from the committee will still require the approval of the council. Committee members include Tamang, Salamun, Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller, Fire and EMS Chief Jason Culberson, and Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick.