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BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />COUNTY OF KITTITAS <br />STATE OF WASHINGTON <br /> <br />RESOLUTION <br /> <br />NO.: 2024- <br /> <br />A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING JOHNSON & JOHNSON WASHINGTON <br />STATE STATE-WIDE OPIOID SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT <br /> <br />WHEREAS: Since July 2018, Kittitas County has been a party to litigation against <br />opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies, including Janssen <br />Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and its subdivisions and <br />affiliates (collectively “Janssen” or “Johnson & Johnson”), for the <br />wrongful production, promotion, and distribution of prescription opioid <br />drugs and the damage they caused in Kittitas County; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS: A settlement (“2024 Settlement Agreement”) has been negotiated by the <br />State of Washington (the “State”) with Janssen, and Kittitas County, as <br />party to the litigation (“Litigating Subdivision”), may opt in to the 2024 <br />Settlement Agreement, the details of which appear at the following link: <br />Johnson & Johnson Opioid Settlement | Washington State; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS: As provided in Sections V and VI of the 2024 Settlement Agreement, the <br />settlement amount, $123.34 million, is contingent on local government <br />participation, and if all 37 Litigating Subdivisions join the settlement, the <br />settlement amount of $123.34 million will be split equally between the <br />State and Litigating Subdivisions, except that as to non-litigating local <br />governments listed in the 2024 Settlement Agreement, if all join, then the <br />full 100 percent (100%) is paid by Johnson & Johnson in June 2024, but if <br />not all non-litigating local governments join, Johnson & Johnson will hold <br />back five percent and will pay Litigating Subdivisions ninety-five percent <br />(95%) in June 2024, with the remaining amount to be paid to the State and <br />Litigating Subdivisions two years later so long as none of the non-joining <br />non-litigating local governments file suit in that two-year period; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS: On April 5, 2022, the Board of County Commissioners entered into the <br />One Washington Memorandum of Understanding Between Washington <br />Municipalities (One WA MOU) agreeing to the allocation and use of <br />settlement proceeds resulting from opioid litigation, and the County’s <br />allocation amount agreed to in the One WA MOU, to wit: 2.6294133668 <br />percent, is the allocation amount Kittitas County will receive if it agrees to <br />opt into the 2024 Settlement Agreement, and it is anticipated that <br />allocation amount to Kittitas County will be $1,378,325.34 less 5 percent <br />required for payment of fees and costs, approximately $69,700.00; and