One Ohio

DeWine named Alisha Nelson, who has led his anti-drug initiatives in the past, as the leader for the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, a private organization established with money from public opioid settlement funds.

A last minute addition to the Ohio Senate’s two-year state budget included a provision to allow the OneOhio Recovery Foundation — which is in charge of giving out $1.1 billion of the state’s opioid settlement money — to bypass public meetings rules.

The state panel that will decide how Ohio distributes more than half of the money it will receive from a nationwide settlement regarding the opioid addiction crisis must make its records publicly available, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

A nonprofit tried to halt the foundation from spending the money until it complied, but the judge did not grant that request.

Dozens of cities and 73 of Ohio’s 88 counties have signed on to a statewide opioid plan for potential settlements with drug companies, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office announced Wednesday. The OneOhio plan would direct 30 percent of total settlement dollars to local governments. A statewide foundation would handle 55 percent and the remaining 15 would go to the attorney general’s office. The foundation’s board would include members representing state officials and local jurisdictions.

Northeast Ohio local governments are weighing whether to join Attorney General Dave Yost’s One Ohio plan for dividing state opioid settlement money from drug companies. The proposal would create a statewide foundation, run by both state and local appointees, to distribute 55 percent of any settlement dollars. Another 30 percent would go directly to local governments. The attorney general’s office would receive 15 percent.

Ohio’s governor, attorney general and dozens of local governments are getting close to a final deal on how to split up a potentially massive settlement…