COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is scheduled to be in Branch County next Saturday, August 10 to host a opioid settlement roundtable with officials from Branch and Hillsdale Counties as well as with local state government representatives.
It will be one of a number of roundtables Nessel is holding throughout the state to get first hand information about the opioid epidemic and to discuss local uses of incoming opioid settlement funds.
Branch County Administrator Bud Norman told the Board of Commissioners during their work session on Thursday that Nessel will hold the roundtable at the Branch County Sheriff’s Department.
Norman says they have been asked by the Attorney General’s office if there was something they could do about the distribution of the opioid settlement.
The Commissioners heard a pair of requests during their July 11 work session for the 18-year allocation of opioid settlement funds.
Sue Germann from Pines Behavioral Health requested $6-point-5 million.
Chris Dewey, representing 2-1-1, asked Commissioners to consider allocating $15,000 annually over the 18 years with an additional $1,000 during the first year.
The Commissioners decided in 2018 to join other Michigan cities and counties in a lawsuit against 21 drug companies, distributors and pharmacies in an attempt to get back expenses from the national opioid crisis.
I believe Nessel is looking at the Governor’s seat in 2026. Which will be worse for Michiganders.