AUGUSTA — Leaders in the Maine Legislature have proposed funding most of a $4.8 million package aimed at curbing the state’s drug epidemic with money gained in a settlement with a Wall Street ratings agency.

The funding mechanism is supported by Attorney General Janet Mills, the Democrat who controls the money, but Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, has challenged her authority over it before and it could emerge as a point of contention on the bill, which will have public hearings on Tuesday.

A bipartisan group of legislative leaders including Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, and Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond, D-Portland, rolled out the plan earlier this month.

That proposal would provide money to hire 10 new drug agents and expand treatment, education and prevention efforts in Maine, which had 105 drug overdose deaths in the first half of 2015. The proposal allocates $2.4 million for enforcement and $2.4 million for treatment and education.

But specifics on how to fund it weren’t made public until text of the bill was posted online by Tuesday. It calls for moving $2.5 million in settlement money to the state’s General Fund to pay part of the bill. The rest will be funded by the Legislature’s surplus, according to spokespeople for Eves and Alfond.

Maine won $21.5 million as part of a settlement with Standard & Poor’s announced by Mills’ office in February. The federal government and 19 states, including Maine, accused the agency of defrauding investors in the run-up to the most recent recession.

In February, Mills said her office would control the money, which would be spent on consumer protection. But later that month, LePage challenged her authority over the money, calling it “repugnant” under the Maine Constitution.

On Wednesday, Tim Feeley, a spokesman for Mills, said she was consulted about the bill and “feels this is an appropriate use for the settlement funds.”

LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett declined comment, as the office normally does on initial legislative proposals.

It could change as legislative committees consider the bill, which will begin with public hearings before the Legislature’s budget-writing, public safety and health committees on Tuesday. Testimony on the funding mechanism will be taken that morning and afternoon.

House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, who has withheld support for the anti-drug plan so far, said while he understands the importance of addressing the drug crisis, the proposed funding source “muddies the water” about finding a solution.

“I think it raises a certain complexity to the issue of looking at not only drug prevention treatment, but now looking at a controversial funding source,” he said.

But Thibodeau and House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, defended the proposal, with McCabe noting that the settlement money didn’t come from taxes.

“If somebody’s got a better idea, then by all means, we’re all ears,” Thibodeau said. “That seemed like a reasonable compromise to me.”