“This is her [Mikie Sherrill] opportunity to show that New Jersey takes this “blood money” seriously and will spend it with respect for the lives lost and for the families who continue to carry unimaginable grief every day”
– Elizabeth Burke Beaty, the founder of Sea Change Recovery Community Organization and Harm Reduction Center.
Key Points
Lawmakers and advocates are urging the restoration of $45 million that was diverted from New Jersey’s opioid settlement fund in June 2025.
The funds were originally designated for addiction recovery and harm reduction programs but were instead redirected to large institutions, including four hospitals — a move critics say conflicts with the Council’s strategic plan for the settlement funds.
Recovery advocates argue that the Legislature has both a legal obligation and a moral responsibility to ensure the money is used as intended to address the ongoing overdose crisis.
A bill to restore the funding passed unanimously in a Senate committee hearing on Monday, which advocates called an encouraging step forward.
Senator Joseph Vitale expressed hope that Governor Mikie Sherrill will support the legislation, noting her campaign support for harm reduction initiatives. The Governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NJ Spotlight News | Restore addiction funding, NJ lawmakers urged
, Mental Health Writer | February 10, 2026 | Health Care, Under the Dome
NJ Spotlight News: Rocky Schwartz’s sister Laura Lee Lewis died in 2003 after battling an addiction to opioids. About six weeks later, Schwartz lost her childhood best friend, Hilary, to an opioid overdose.
“My life has been profoundly impacted by the opioid crisis,” Schwartz told the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on Monday. “I can’t even count how many funerals I have attended.”
Schwartz was one of several advocates who testified during a crowded committee hearing, voicing their support for a bill that would restore $45 million to a state fund aimed at supporting addiction treatment services.
In a last-minute move, without a public hearing or discussion, lawmakers diverted the $45 million to four hospital systems to use in their own addiction treatment programs, a diversion incorporated into the $58.8 billion state budget Gov. Phil Murphy signed in June.