(a)  The attorney general is hereby authorized and empowered to accept in the name of the state any settlement resulting from a multi-state initiative. The attorney general is additionally authorized and empowered to recover attorney’s fees and costs that shall be considered settlement proceeds for purposes of this chapter.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 42-9-19

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.

(b)  The settlement proceeds shall be transferred to the general treasurer for deposit in the general fund. The general treasurer shall transfer proceeds, up to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) in any fiscal year, to the “attorney general multi-state initiative restricted-receipt account.” Any balance in excess of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) remaining in the account at the end of the fiscal year shall be transferred back to the state general fund. The restricted-receipt account shall be used to pay for staff, operational, and litigation costs associated with multi-state initiatives.

(c)  Expenditure of all settlement proceeds accepted by the attorney general as part of the terms of the relevant master settlement agreement shall be subject to the annual appropriation process and approval by the general assembly.

History of Section.
P.L. 2003, ch. 376, art. 39, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 88, art. 2, § 11; P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 3, § 10, effective July 6, 2021; P.L. 2023, ch. 79, art. 2, § 9, effective June 16, 2023.