{"id":2344220,"date":"2024-09-21T08:56:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T12:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/departing-opioid-trust-member-no-excuse-for-getting-money-out-quickly-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-21T09:00:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T13:00:14","slug":"departing-opioid-trust-member-no-excuse-for-getting-money-out-quickly-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/departing-opioid-trust-member-no-excuse-for-getting-money-out-quickly-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Departing opioid trust member: \u2018No excuse\u2019 for getting money out quickly &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdeparting-opioid-trust-member-no-excuse-for-getting-money-out-quickly-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2344220&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses\u200d insights from outgoing Pennsylvania \u200dOpioid\u200d Trust member Rep. Jim \u2062Gregory\u2062 regarding the state&#8217;s \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/buttigiegs-former-firm-shells-out-573-million-to-evade-lawsuits-over-role-in-opioid-crisis\/\" title=\"Buttigieg\u2019s Former Firm Shells Out 3 Million to Evade Lawsuits Over Role in Opioid Crisis\">opioid crisis<\/a> and the \u2063management of settlement funds aimed at addressing it. During his tenure, Gregory emphasized the urgency to disburse funds \u200cquickly to assist those affected \u200cby addiction, as the state faces a significant number of\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medical-examiner-releases-official-cause-of-death-for-famed-rapper-coolio\/\" title=\"Medical Examiner Releases Official Cause Of Death For Famed Rapper Coolio\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">overdose deaths<\/a> annually<\/a>. He acknowledged the trust&#8217;s \u200dneed for improved communication with county governments\u2063 to enhance its effectiveness, \u2064especially \u2063as some counties face delays and issues \u200bwith\u200b spending approvals. Despite some operational challenges, Gregory believes \u2062Pennsylvania is managing\u200b its opioid \u2062funds better than other states. He expressed disappointment over the fate of a proposed\u200c grant program for recovery services, which he champions but is stalled in the Senate. As Pennsylvania \u200cstruggles with high overdose rates, \u2063there \u2062is cautious optimism \u2062due \u2062to\u2064 a national decline in overdose deaths.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Departing opioid trust member: &lsquo;No excuse&rsquo; for getting money out quickly<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1765936\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &mdash; As the Pennsylvania Opioid Trust switches out some board members, an outgoing state legislator wants the public to focus on the victim of addiction &mdash; and what can be done to make the state better in the coming years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Our objective was to get that money out as quickly as we could because the people of Pennsylvania are dying and those related to those dying were looking at us to do the job, to change the tide of what the opioid disaster has done,&rdquo; Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, said.<\/p>\n<p>Gregory, who has&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_4be876b4-572c-11ee-9c4d-277bf3b6b9eb.html\">spoken of his struggle<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;with drug addiction, was appointed to the trust in August 2022 as the House appointee. He&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_b158767a-0235-11ef-a2b4-63bc4eea17d7.html\">lost his re-election bid<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;in April, and Rep. Jim Struzzi took his place on the board in July.<\/p>\n<p>Despite&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_8ad80398-08cb-11ef-8651-fb2e827de757.html\">some delays<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/two-thirds-of-opioid-trust-fund-unspent\/\" title=\"Two-thirds of opioid trust fund remains unused\">approving county projects<\/a>, he saw the trust as effectively carrying out its duties.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I feel like Pennsylvania was doing a much better job than other states,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;We were just recognizing the wisdom of how to avoid making similar mistakes that other states have made.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Making the trust work better, he argued, will require more communication between the trust and county leaders.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a partnership between the board of trustees and those county governments that were tasked with knowing how and what to do with that money on a timely basis,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;I think we could do a better job of working together.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Some of the problems, too, may be growing pains. A number of counties are set to&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_37f401d6-60c8-11ef-beb3-1b195e0ab17b.html\">go through the appeals process<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;to dispute rulings of the trust that some spending was not authorized. The first test, brought in early September by Somerset County,&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_188aae02-6bc8-11ef-b27b-eb036a1bd3a0.html\">did not change the trust&rsquo;s decision<\/a><\/strong>, though they praised the county&rsquo;s work nonetheless. As local leaders see what others are doing, future problems may pop up.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We all need to make sure it&rsquo;s being used to backfill the amount of damage that has been done to families, victims, and our economy,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;The ripple effects that we are all paying for &hellip; we&rsquo;re also recognizing that every person in Pennsylvania has been impacted by this, and that&rsquo;s what that money is really meant for.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While the bulk of the money will get spent by county governments, the General Assembly will also decide how to use a portion of the $1 billion coming to Pennsylvania over the next 18 years.<\/p>\n<p>Gregory had&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/pennsylvania\/article_8d5e334c-41f4-11ee-aa83-a7385c418f0c.html\">proposed a grant program<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;to support recovery services that eventually passed in the House as part of&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/penncapital-star.com\/health\/long-awaited-substance-use-recovery-grant-program-passes-pa-house\/\">a different bill<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;by Rep. Arvind Venkat D-Pittsburgh, but it&rsquo;s sat in the Senate since then. The legislature is running out of time.<\/p>\n<p>Money for that program could come from the opioid settlement money, Gregory noted, but with only a handful of session days left, it could expire.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are opportunities sitting on the table as we speak that that money could be put toward, and it&rsquo;s important to me because it&rsquo;s my bill,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;But right now, I don&rsquo;t feel good about its prospects. It&rsquo;s disappointing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Though Pennsylvania has been one of the worst-hit states for overdose deaths &mdash; more than 5,000 residents have died annually for years now &mdash; there&rsquo;s some hope that it may not stay that way. Public health data has picked up on&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/09\/18\/nx-s1-5107417\/overdose-fatal-fentanyl-death-opioid\">a national decline<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;in overdose deaths, almost 11%.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After a spike in 2022, we see opioid overdose ED visits drop to some of the lowest levels in nearly a decade in the second half of 2023,&rdquo;&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/opioiddatalab.ghost.io\/are-overdoses-down-and-why\/\">wrote<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Nabarun Dasgupta of the University of North Carolina, looking at Allegheny County.<\/p>\n<p>Priorities of state leaders matter to ensure that the money gets spent, and spent well &mdash; and local priorities matter, too.<\/p>\n<p>Gregory noted that county officials are quick to use money for farmland preservation, but some have moved slower on figuring out how to use opioid settlement money.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Imagine how farmers in their community would feel if they didn&rsquo;t make use of that money if they didn&rsquo;t use it toward farmland preservation,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;If they would treat it like they do farmland preservation, then you can understand how they would move more aggressively.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Local support &mdash; and criticism &mdash; could be key. Leaders don&rsquo;t focus on something if communities don&rsquo;t make hay of a problem.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There should be no excuse for not getting out the opioid settlement money and treating it as important before it goes away,&rdquo; Gregory said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1765936\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1765936\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Pennsylvania Opioid Trust undergoes changes in its board membership, a departing state legislator emphasizes the need to prioritize addiction victims and improve state responses moving forward. Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, who has openly discussed his own battle with drug addiction, was appointed to the trust in August 2022 but lost his re-election bid in April. He believes that expediting financial assistance is crucial because many Pennsylvanians are suffering from addiction-related issues. Despite some delays in project approvals at the county level, Gregory feels that Pennsylvania is managing its opioid crisis better than other states by learning from their mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>He advocates for enhanced communication between the trust and county officials to ensure effective use of funds designated for addressing opioid-related challenges. Some counties are currently appealing decisions regarding unauthorized spending by the trust; however, Gregory remains optimistic about future collaboration.<\/p>\n<p>He stresses that it\u2019s essential for funds to be utilized effectively to mitigate damage caused by addiction on families and communities across Pennsylvania. While most of the settlement money will be allocated by county governments, a portion will also be determined by the General Assembly over an 18-year period. Gregory had previously proposed a grant program aimed at supporting recovery services which passed in the House but has stalled in the Senate due to time constraints.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Pennsylvania&#8217;s high overdose death rates\u2014over 5,000 annually\u2014there are signs of hope with recent public health data indicating a national decline in overdose deaths. State leaders&#8217; priorities will play a significant role in ensuring these funds are spent wisely and effectively address local needs as well.<\/p>\n<p>Gregory points out that while counties quickly allocate money for farmland preservation projects, they have been slower to determine how best to utilize opioid settlement funds. He urges local leaders not to overlook this critical issue: \u201cThere should be no excuse for not getting out the opioid settlement money and treating it as important before it goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2344221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP22330774288289.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[41406,41404,32068,41405,32076],"class_list":["post-2344220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-financial-ethics","tag-opioid-crisis","tag-public-health","tag-trust-members","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP22330774288289.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2344220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2344220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2344220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2344220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}