Attorneys General Settlement
Attorneys General Tobacco Settlement News
Archive, November, 1998
Note: These articles wink in and out of existence with the frequency of sub-atomic particles. Many links will be dead. In that case, these pages can be approached as bibliographies, both noting the event, and showing where you might look for further information.
AG Settlement RESOURCES
- MASTER SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
- National Association of Attorneys General
- NAAG Tobacco Settlement Page
- NAAG State Approval Page
- National news release
- Tobacco settlement agreement at a glance
- Overview of state dollars
- Detailed breakdown of state dollars (MS Word file)
- Smokeless tobacco settlement agreement
- 2/4/99 Stateline.org
- A RECORD OF PROMISES BROKEN AND AN OPPORTUNITY LOST A Report by the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS and the American Heart Association
- Four (of many) Reasons Why States Should Use Settlement Money for Comprehensive Tobacco Control (from a background paper produced by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids - for a copy of the full text, e-mail kbeckham@astho.org)
- One of the NGA Center¹s top priorities for 1999 is to work with states in their efforts to explore the best ways to expend state tobacco settlement funds. The NGA Center is also gathering data on effective state programs for tobacco prevention and control. . . The NGA Center for Best Practices is assisting Governors and their policy advisors to address the policy, financial, and programmatic implications of the tobacco settlement. The Governors are also working with the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and other groups to develop a strategy aimed at preventing federal recoupment of these funds.
- Prevention and Control Activities
- Links to non-government, state government, and federal resources online.
- State Activities and Related Links
- Information from the states, organized by state.
- Foundation for the Prevention of Youth Smoking
- The tobacco settlement agreement establishes a national foundation to study and develop methods to reduce youth¹s use of tobacco products.
- Tobacco Settlement Information for States
- A overview of NGA efforts to prevent the federal government's seizure of state settlement funds to offset federal Medicaid expenditures. Plus links to resources on the NGA web site and the Internet. Last month: 1998 Year in Review If you would like to provide site feedback, contact our Webmaster by e-mail.
- Settlement Agreements
- Industry Advertising Print and TV ads avaialable here.
- Federal Issues The McCain Bill, Healthy Kids Act, etc.
- Chronology of Gov. Hearings 1997-1998
AG Settlement NEWS
- 11/98 ASH Amicus Curiae This is a kind of template for opposition to the settlement, with a list of judges in tobacco cases in the most populous states.
- 11/30/98 Petition to New York Judge Crane to Delay the AG Settlement
- 11/14/98 Tobacco Accord Calls for Industry to Pay $206 Bln, NYT Says Bloomberg News
- Tobacco
companies Philip Morris Cos., RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., Loews Corp. and British American Tobacco Plc and eight state attorneys
general have agreed to a settlement under which the companies would pay $206 billion over 25 years to eliminate the threat of state suits
seeking to recover the Medicaid costs of treating people with smoking-related illnesses, the New York Times reported
- 11/14/98 Tobacco Companies and 8 States in Tentative Settlement New York Times
- Producers
will pay an additional $25 million a year over the next decade for a foundation that will research ways to reduce youth smoking. They
will also pledge not to market to those under 18. "We have reached an agreement on all the issues," said Christine A. Gregoire, the
Washington State Attorney General. "We are in the final drafting stage and hope to have a settlement sometime Saturday."
- 11/14/98 Big Tobacco, State Officials Reach $206 Billion Deal The Washington Post
- Former Food
and Drug Administration commissioner David A. Kessler . . . said he has no strong feelings this time. "It's all about money," he said,
"and there's very little in it for public health." Mary Aronson, a Washington-based litigation analyst, said the critical issue in the
coming days "is how many states agree. If not enough do or key ones don't, then the whole thing unravels." States have until Friday to
decide whether they will join the settlement. If a "critical mass" fails to sign on, the industry will abandon the deal, according to
sources familiar with the negotiations. "A critical mass is going be one of those things that you can't define -- but you'll know it when
you see it," said North Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley (D).
- 11/14/98 Tobacco Deal's Details Are Set Winston-Salem Journal
- Negotiators in New York were still finishing the details of
the complex deal yesterday. They are scheduled to make a formal announcement Monday in Washington. But public-health groups and
state officials already are weighing in with widely divergent reactions.
- 11/14/98 US cigarette makers to pay
states $250bn Financial Times
- US cigarette makers on Friday struck a deal requiring them to pay out $250bn over
the next 25 years to end the worst of the litigation they face. . . The deal was struck between the big cigarette manufacturers and eight of the
38 states suing them for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. Details of the package are expected to be announced on Monday. The
other 30 states will then be given about a week to sign up.
- 11/14/98 LEX Smoke
clears Financial Times
- Admittedly, this settlement does not confer the total immunity promised by the $516bn
deal which collapsed this spring. But it is much cheaper, does not require congressional approval and the companies have lately been
winning individual suits in the courts.
- 11/14/98Tobacco Deal Would Disband Controversial Research Center The Baltimore
Sun
- According to a draft posted yesterday on the Web site of the Arizona Republic newspaper, the tobacco settlement would
disband the CENTER FOR INDOOR AIR RESEARCH, along with the COUNCIL FOR TOBACCO RESEARCH and the TOBACCO INSTITUTE, other longtime
targets of industry critics. But in one of a number of apparent loopholes in the draft, the language appears to permit the industry to set
up replacement organizations. . . one clause permits tobacco posters to be displayed not only in stadiums and shopping malls but also in
"video game arcades," an odd feature for a deal ostensibly aimed at curbing youth smoking. Another clause would permit the sale, after
March 31, 2001, of packs containing fewer than 20 cigarettes.
- 11/12/98 DRAFT AGREEMENT Some sort of precis from the Arizona Republic. Source?
- 11/13/98 How Draft Of States' Proposed Tobacco Settlement Compares With Past Efforts St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- This is how a draft of the tobacco settlement in the works compares on some key issues with its two recent predecessors -- a
settlement deal announced in June 1997 and legislation sponsored by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
- 11/13/98Tobacco Cos. to Pay $6.9 Bln in Accord's 1st Year, Paper Says Bloomberg News
- U.S.
tobacco companies would pay $6.9 billion to states in the first year of a proposed legal settlement of health-related lawsuits, according
to a draft of the agreement posted on the Arizona Republic newspaper's web site.
- 11/13/98 According to John F. Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health Details of Secret National Tobacco Deal
Posted PR Newswire
- Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) will be asking judges in many of the states affected to
withhold approval of any formal settlements until public health organizations and others have had an opportunity to review its sufficiency. Of
particular concern to ASH is that the attorneys general are reportedly not planning to make the actual text of the deal public until after it is
signed, thereby making careful public scrutiny impossible.
- 11/13/98 $206 Billion Tobacco Deal Ready ABC News
- After five months of secret talks, negotiators for Big
Tobacco and eight states have finished work on a massive anti-smoking settlement initiative that could cost the industry $206 billion over 25
years.
- 11/13/98 Tobacco Deal Acceptance Rests On State Participation Reuters
- For example, a New
York-based group called Action Alert sent messages to anti-smoking groups in all 50 states supplying them with the names of their
attorneys general and the office phone numbers. "Please call your attorney general's office and ask that the public be given 30 days to
review the settlement. Any deal that can't withstand 30 days of public scrutiny is a bad deal," the message said. Gregoire bristled over
complaints that the negotiations were kept too secret. "This is litigation. There is nothing unusual about what we're doing here," she
said. "It's not legislation that everyone comments on." . . "This is risk free," she said of the settlement proposal. "The courtroom is not.
Our job was to make sure that every state is a winner."
- 11/13/98 Both Sides Give A Little In Potential Tobacco Agreement Star-Telegram
- The framework for what would
be a third recent attempt to address America's tobacco habit has a modesty that reflects some of the tobacco industry's major legal and political
victories this year. But the national settlement proposal now in final negotiations -- and expected to be announced here Monday -- still would
mean big payouts from Big Tobacco.
- 11/13/98 States, Tobacco Seek Settlement AP
- Negotiators were working Friday on final details of a
settlement proposal which would also salvage some anti-smoking initiatives from a broader agreement that collapsed in Congress earlier
this year. "We are still in here trying to finish. We are very, very close," said Washington state Attorney General Christine M. Gregoire,
who has been leading the state negotiators and is in trial against the industry in her home state.
- 11/13/98Deal would curb
tobacco sponsors The Arizona Republic
- A tobacco settlement agreement expected to be announced Monday
would limit tobacco companies to sponsorship of only one event per year under the name of their major tobacco product. That means
RJR Nabisco's Winston cigarettes may have to give up sponsorship of either the Winston Cup series of NASCAR races, one of which
is run at PIR, or forgo the National Hotrod Association Winston Drag Racing Series, a leg of which is held at Firebird.
- 11/14/98 CA:
SAN JOSE: Tobacco accord would aid S.J. San Jose Mercury-News
- A proposed $200 billion nationwide
settlement with the tobacco industry would generate an estimated $23 billion for California over the next 25 years, a figure that would be
divvied up by cities and counties across the state, including San Jose and Santa Clara County. San Jose would receive roughly $287
million, and Santa Clara County's share might exceed $500 million over the life of the agreement, according to lawyers who have analyzed
the tentative settlement, which is expected to be announced formally Monday.
- 11/14/98 NY: 24B Cig Deal Eyed New York Daily News
- New York State would get $24
billion under a soon-to-be announced settlement with the country's major tobacco companies, sources close to the talks said yesterday. .
. The groups also called on state Attorney General Dennis Vacco, who has been representing New York in the talks, to give the public 30
days to comment on the proposed settlement before it is adopted. Vacco spokesman Chris McKenna said the groups had commented
throughout the process even though they were not part of the talks. "They've had plenty of opportunity, and we've listened to them," he
said. "A lot of the provisions of the settlement are reflective of the concerns that have been raised by these and other advocates."
- 11/14/98 NY: How to Spend Tobacco Money? New York Counts the Ways New York Times
- The
deal has not been announced yet, but already there is no shortage of competing proposals for spending New York's $20 billion share of a
reported $206 billion tobacco settlement: things like health care for the uninsured, stop-smoking programs and a cut in property
taxes.
- 11/14/98 MD: Md. Mulls Joining U.S. Tobacco Settlement or Gambling With Lawsuit The Washington Post
- Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph CURRAN (D) has been saying the state has one of the strongest cases against cigarette
makers in the nation. But he said yesterday that he would be meeting with the state's lawyers in the coming days and hoped to make a
decision by the middle of next week. "We think we've got a good case," he said. "Having said that, is it a slam dunk? Well, nothing in life
is a slam dunk."
- 11/12/98 MD: State Has A Week To Make Decision On Tobacco Suit Baltimore (MD) Sun
- Though Maryland has a strong case, state officials are trying to decide whether to pursue a lawsuit against the tobacco industry or join a settlement negotiated by eight other states. Final details of the proposed agreement are still being worked out, and Maryland has until Nov. 20 to make the decision. The decision for Maryland officials is a difficult one because the state is considered to have a strong case
- 11/11/98 MD: State Weighs Tobacco Deal Baltimore (MD) Sun
- Maryland officials will have until Nov. 20 to decide whether to sign on to a tobacco settlement negotiated by eight other states or take a chance on going to trial in April, Attorney General J. JOSEPH CURRAN JR. said last night. The settlement announcement, scheduled for noon Friday, is likely to set off a rushed weeklong debate among state officials and public health experts on the merits of the deal, negotiated largely in secret.
- 11/14/98 VA: Tobacco deadline looms / Not enough time to review pact, Va. health advocates say Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Hilton Oliver, executive director of Virginia GASP, or Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, was flatly critical. "This is a
sellout. This is not in the public's interest; it is something the attorneys general are trying to grab for their own political benefit before
it's too late," he contended. Lisa Becker, a lobbyist with the American Heart Association's Virginia Council, said . . . "The whole
challenge is going to be getting that money appropriated where it needs to go. That's to public health -- and not to things some other
folks may think it needs to go to, such as roads and schools," said Becker, who attended the briefing by Earley's staff.
- 11/13/98 Leaf deal could net VIRGINIA $3.5 billion Richmond Times-Dispatch
- A deal under negotiation to settle three dozen state
lawsuits against the tobacco industry would bring Virginia at least $3.5 billion over 25 years if all eligible states opted to join the pact.
Virginia's share was disclosed yesterday by a source familiar with the negotiations
- 11/12/98 EARLEY Looking Kindly On Pact / Tobacco Industry, States Could Settle Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch
- Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley was looking favorably yesterday on a $200 billion proposal nearing completion for a national settlement of state claims for treating sick smokers. But Earley had not made a final decision whether to support the pact, said his spokesman, David Botkins.
- 11/14/98 MA: AG mulls option to rejoin tobacco settlement The Boston Globe
- "If Harshbarger
folds on this, everyone else folds," said Richard Daynard, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law and chairman of its
Tobacco Products Liability Project. . . One advocate, Dr. Gregory Connolly, director of the state's Tobacco Control Program, said
Harshbarger's decision will mark a watershed in the antismoking movement. "What Scott decides will ultimately determine how America
will deal with tobacco control over the next 25 years," he said. . . . "Most of the public health provisions appear to be fool's gold," Daynard
said.
- 11/13/98 IL: Health Organizations Urge Disclosure of Tobacco Lawsuit Settlement PR Newswire
- the American Heart Association-Midwest Affiliate, the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, the American Cancer
Society, Illinois Division, American Association of Public Health Physicians strongly recommend Illinois Attorney General JIM RYAN
work to make public health principles a key feature of any agreement and allow public health 30 days to review and comment.
- 11/13/98 TN: Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- Governor DON SUNDQUIST says that negotiations are still in
the works, but the state is projected to rece ive about four-point-seven BILLION dollars in the deal.
- 11/13/98 OR: Tobacco Deal Could Bring Big Bucks Reuters
- Oregon Attorney General HARDY MYERS
says the state might get two BILLION dollars over 25 years under a proposed settlement with big tobacco.
- 11/13/98 OH: Possible Tobacco Settlement Evaluated Reuters
- JENNIFER PRICE with the Ohio chapter
of the American Lung Association says the current deal isn't as good as the national settlement announced months ago... but it's not horrible
either. Price says any settlement that does not prohibit future efforts to curb smoking will be moderately acceptable. Ohio stands to gain
eight-to-nine- Million-dollars [sic--should read "Billion"] from this new settlement.
- 11/12/98 OH: Tobacco deal could mean $9B for Ohio Cincinnati (OH) Post
- Between $8 billion and $9 billion could come Ohio's way under a proposed settlement between cigarette makers and states involved in a lawsuit against the tobacco industry over the health costs of smoking.
- 11/13/98 MI: Tobacco-Free Michigan Action Coalition Decries Reports of Tobacco Industry Demands for Ultra-High
Speed Approval of Secretly-Drafted Tobacco Agreement PR Newswire
- " This settlement, if agreed to, will set
tobacco-related public policy and settle Medicaid claims for 25 years to eternity. Yet, the citizens of Michigan, the Attorney General, the
Attorney General-elect, the Governor, the legislature, the public health community, the media -- everyone but the privileged negotiators of
this deal -- will be denied any reasonable opportunity to carefully review this settlement. This is an outrage."
- 11/14/98 WI: Wisconsin may stay
out of tobacco settlement Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Jim Haney, a spokesman for Attorney General James
Doyle, said Friday that state lawyers have not yet seen the settlement document and that no decision has been made about whether
Wisconsin would accept the proposed agreement. But he stressed that Doyle will insist on a strong public health component in any
agreement accepted by the state and that Wisconsin is fully prepared to move forward with its own lawsuit against cigarette makers.
- 11/13/98 WI: Attorney general watches tobacco settlement talks Minneapolis Star Tribune
- DOYLE will
likely consider the settlement but his office is continuing with plans to take the case to court next September, state Department of Justice
spokesman James Haney said. " When we filed our lawsuit, we fully expected to take our case to trial, " Haney said. " We will still
continue to work in that direction."
- 11/13/98KY: Tobacco proposal has PATTON concerned Lexington Herald-Leader
- Gov. PAUL PATTON
sounded a disappointed note yesterday about how Kentucky tobacco farmers are likely to fare under a pending national tobacco settlement.
"We have made it known that we want some kind of an extra consideration for the tobacco farmer," Patton said in an interview. "I'm not
going to comment on whether we got our expectations or not, but I'm not smiling a whole lot." . .
- 11/14/98 AL:
Attorney general claims 'assurances' from Tobacco Birmingham News
- Lawyers for Gov. Fob James accused
Attorney General Bill Pryor Friday of costing the state at least $3 billion by not suing the tobacco industry sooner. Montgomery lawyers
Jere Beasley and Walter Byars, who filed suit for James Thursday against more than two dozen tobacco companies, also criticized Pryor
Friday for not telling anyone before now that he had a "secret agreement" with tobacco companies.
- 11/14/98 AL: State leaders
square off over tobacco Birmingham News
- In an extraordinary political standoff with extraordinary amounts of
money at stake, Attorney General Bill Pryor warned Friday that Alabama risked getting nothing if it pursued a tobacco lawsuit instead of
taking the $2.9 billion that is reportedly coming under a national settlement. But attorneys for lame-duck Gov. Fob James, who sued the
tobacco industry Thursday over Pryor's vehement opposition, were optimistic the state could win something close to the $6.1 billion
settlement in Minnesota's lawsuit
- 11/13/98 AL: Alabama Battles Over Tobacco Suit AP
- JAMES, who refused for two years to sue tobacco
companies on the advice of PRYOR, filed a lawsuit against them Thursday. Democratic Gov.-elect Don SIEGELMAN sided with Pryor,
arguing that the lawsuit could deny Alabama any settlement funds and keep the state from getting any money for years. He also blamed
both Pryor and James for blocking his own lawsuit against the tobacco industry in 1996. . . In response, Pryor filed a suit Thursday that
he said is aimed at keeping James from interfering with the national tobacco talks. "We are going to take whatever legal action is
necessary to make Alabama participate in the national settlement," Pryor said.
- 11/12/98AL: Alabama would get nearly $3 billion; but James, Pryor in legal duel AP
- Alabama would get
nearly $3 billion out of the national tobacco settlement that is almost complete, but that's not enough to satisfy Gov. FOB JAMES, who filed
suit Thursday against all of the major tobacco companies. James' legal action quickly turned into a judicial duel with Attorney General BILL
PRYOR, who responded by filing a lawsuit to make sure Alabama participates fully in the proposed national settlement.
- 11/12/98 AL: ALABAMA Wants More From Tobacco Cos. AP
- Alabama would get nearly $3 billion out of the national tobacco settlement that is almost complete, but Gov. Fob James said Thursday he will sue in hopes of getting more. James said he has instructed Montgomery attorney Walter Byars to put together a legal team and go to court quickly on behalf of the state. "I am duty-bound to file a lawsuit against tobacco companies and I intend to do so," James said in a statement.
- 11/13/98 AZ: Tobacco Deal Totals $200
Billion The Arizona Republic
- Negotiators for states with lawsuits still pending against Big Tobacco have struck a
$200 billion, 30-state settlement and say it as the best deal they can get after the collapse of a national agreement earlier this year. Arizona
would receive a minimum of $2.67 billion over the first 25 years of the agreement, with no restrictions on the money's use.
- 11/12/98AZ: Arizona's share of
tobacco settlement: $2.7 billion
- Arizona would receive a minimum of $2.67 billion over the first 25 years of the
agreement, with no restrictions on the money's use.
- 11/12/98 SF: A Tobacco Deal S.F. Can't Refuse The Recorder (Cal Law)
- A proposed $200 billion settlement between 46 state attorneys general and the tobacco industry could land San Francisco as much as $550 million over the next 25 years. And although counties can opt out of the deal, all bets are that City Attorney LOUISE RENNE will take the money and run. "They are paying an extraordinary amount of money," said one tobacco plaintiffs attorney, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It's not a perfect agreement, but none ever are. This is a bonanza."
- 11/12/98 NH: MCLAUGHLIN Says Tobacco Settlement Is Tradeoff For States Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, NH)
- An agreement in the works to settle state claims against the tobacco industry is not ideal, but may be the best the states can do, Attorney General PHILIP MCLAUGHLIN said.
- 11/12/98 NC: Tobacco Deal Could Bring N.C. $6 Billion Raleigh (NC) News & Observer
- Two Tar Heels helped hammer out the basic deal during four months of secret talks in New York: state Attorney General Mike Easley and Phil Carlton of Pinetops, a lawyer representing the tobacco industry. The accord gives 37 states with pending lawsuits against the industry, plus nine that didn't file suit, until Nov. 20 to join the settlement. The $200 billion cost to the industry would decrease in proportion to the number of states that decline to participate.
- 11/12/98 CA: CALIFORNIA Eyes Billions From Tobacco Deal Sacramento (CA) Bee
- A tobacco settlement package expected to be announced as early as Friday would bring California more money than any other state -- as much as $25 billion over 25 years -- sources close to the talks indicated Wednesday.
- 11/12/98 Tobacco Settlement Set for Monday, Seen Backed by Most States Bloomberg
- Most U.S. states will support a proposed legal settlement with cigarette makers scheduled to be unveiled Monday, Arizona State Attorney General GRANT WOODS said. "You will have a critical mass of states supporting this, and you will have all of the critical states," Woods said at the MEALEY'S TOBACCO LITIGATION conference in Jacksonville, Florida.
- 11/12/98 Tobacco Firms Are "Getting Off Cheap' San Francisco Examiner
- "We're signing off forever on letting these tobacco guys go, and they're getting off cheap," said PAUL MINICUCCI, executive director of the Next Generation California Tobacco Control Alliance of Sacramento. "We're being railroaded." "They're only giving other states seven days to sign on (to the settlement), and that's a pretty short time," said LISA GOLDMAN, campaign coordinator for Oakland-based Americans for Non-Smokers Rights. "That's like a used-car fire sale," she said. "Several of the AGs are lame ducks, and they're rushing to get this done before they leave." BILL GODSHALL of Pittsburgh, executive director of Smoke Free Pennsylvania, said, "It wouldn't survive the public stink test."
- 11/12/98 A Weaker Settlement? / New Tobacco Deal Not As Strong On Teen Smoking, Critics Say Newsday (Long Island, NY)
- A new multibillion-dollar settlement of state lawsuits against tobacco companies would not have nearly the impact on teen smoking that the original June, 1997, deal would have had, critics and analysts of the industry said yesterday. "This agreement is not a comprehensive plan and does not substitute for the need for Congress to enact a comprehensive plan," said Matt Myers, general counsel for the anti-smoking Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. He helped negotiate the original deal, a version of which died in the Senate this year. "It will have a modest impact on teen smoking," said Gary Black, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
- 11/12/98 Critics Rip Upcoming Tobacco Settlement Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
- "The public-health groups are unified over the fact that this is not a great deal," said Stanton Glantz . . . "This isn't the perfect deal," said [IN AG JEFFREY] MODISETT, who also was a key negotiator in the failed settlement of last year. "I was much more comfortable with June of '97."
- 11/12/98 Tobacco Settlement Expected To Be Announced Friday Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
- Elena Kagan, a domestic policy adviser to President Clinton, said the White House hadn't seen details of the settlement package but was cheered by what it knew. "From what we hear, this is a real step in the right direction," she said. "We give the attorneys general all the credit in the world for having accomplished this. At the same time, it leaves a great deal to be done."
- 11/12/98 US Lawsuits: Relief May Be In Sight Financial Times (UK)
- After a year and a half of on-and-off negotiations, the siege against US cigarette makers appears on the brink of being lifted. . . For cigarette makers, the disadvantage of the new deal is that it will only settle the state lawsuits, leaving them theoretically exposed to the continued threat of class action lawsuits and claims from individual smokers. . . The biggest loser from the new deal appears to be Congress, which has been completely excluded from the negotiations and stands to gain neither the cash nor the regulatory authority it would have achieved from the previous proposal.
- 11/11/98 GARY BLACK: New AG Settlement: Critical Investment Question -- Not When, But How Many? Outperforms Tobacco BBS
- The public's collective apathetic shrug toward tobacco as an issue is likely to push tobacco off the political radar screen once and for all. This week's defeats of anti-tobacco hardliners Humphrey (MN) and Harshbarger (MA), and a razor thin victory margin (13,000 votes of 7 million cast) on California's Prop 10 should send the clear signal that tobacco is a non-issue to the electorateWhile we are concerned that three of the eight AGs who negotiated the AG deal -- Lungren (CA), Vacco (NY), Norton (CO), all who are Republicans -- are effectively lame duck AGs through year-end, we detect a sense of urgency now that this deal be wrapped up before Thanksgiving. This implies a pre-sell of the deal to the AGs next week, with commitments within 5-7 days
- 11/11/98 MI: Tobacco Deal May be Reviewed and Decided in Four Days, Reports American Lung Association of Michigan PR Newswire
- - "Public disclosure of the proposed settlement must be made, with adequate time to read the fine print. Public health must be the only consideration in a tobacco settlement. The settlement must not offer immunity to Big Tobacco, the FDA must be granted the authority to regulate nicotine as a drug and there must be built-in ramifications if tobacco companies fail to curb teen smoking," continued Moore.
- 11/11/98 MI: Tobacco Deal May be Reviewed and Decided in Four Days, Reports American Lung Association of Michigan
PR Newswire
- "A settlement of this magnitude that will set public policy and settle legal claims must be given more
than just a few days to consider. We cannot afford to rush any decisions made with the tobacco industry. Secrecy is very dangerous when
you consider the tobacco industry's past," said Jim Moore, spokesperson for the American Lung Association of Michigan.
- 11/11/98 NJ: Eight State Tobacco Settlement Expected Friday, November 13; State of New Jersey will have option to 'Opt-in' or 'Opt-Out' PR Newswire
- Larry Downs, Project Director, New Jersey BREATHES, New Jersey's leading tobacco-control organization, will be available for comment one hour after the details of the settlement are released on Friday, November 13, 1998.
- 11/11/98 States, Tobacco Industry Near Deal AP
- The negotiators were hopeful of reaching an agreement by the end of the week, but both sides cautioned Tuesday evening that some issues remained unresolved and talks were continuing. "The deal is not done," said Scott Williams, a spokesman for the industry.
- 11/11/98 $200-Billion Pact in Tobacco Case Down to the Final Details LA Times
- Gary Black, a leading tobacco analyst at investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein, said he expects four or five states to hold out, not enough to create problems for the deal. "What's important is that California and New York are part of the deal," Black said. He said Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin may hold out but that they are not large enough to derail the deal.
- 11/11/98 Several States, Tobacco Concerns Agree on Major Provisions of Deal The Wall Street Journal (pay registration)
- Some remaining fine points are still being drafted, with work expected to continue through Thursday. But the lead negotiator, Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, has told her counterparts in other states that an announcement is expected at noon Friday, said several people familiar with the talks.
- 11/10/98 FOCUS-States expected to get tobacco plan by Friday Reuters
- Several sources told Reuters that the attorneys general were told during a conference call on Monday that the bulk of the deal had been worked out and that negotiators hoped to have the completed agreement to all states by Friday. They also said they understood that a public announcement might be made at that time.
- 11/10/98 States, Tobacco Industry Near Deal AP
- Fred Olson, a spokesman for Washington state attorney general Christine Gregoire who has been leading the states' negotiating team, said the two sides "are closer to an agreement but it's premature to say it is done." . . . "The deal is not done," said Scott Williams, a spokesman for the tobacco industry.
- 11/10/98 Tobacco Negotiators Say $200 Bln Pact May Come Friday (Update4)
- Negotiators for eight states and the tobacco industry said they're working out details of a settlement of state lawsuits for as much as $200 billion and plan to unveil an accord Friday. . . Attorneys general for the 38 states would have a week to decide whether to participate, and the size of the settlement depends on how many states join. The two sides will disclose the size of the settlement Nov. 23, the people said.
- 11/14/98 Tobacco Spinoffs, Stock Buybacks Seen Following Settlement Bloomberg News
- The nation's
biggest cigarette producers are expected to announce spinoffs, stock- buyback programs and other major moves now that they're settling
health-related lawsuits with states
- 11/15/98 Big Tobacco, States Reach
Agreement MSNBC
- "We need the Congress to pass legislation to finish the job that the attorneys general have
started, " said Bill Novelli, an anti-tobacco lobbyist with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "We need FDA regulation. We need a price
increase in tobacco. We need aid for farmers. We need secondhand smoke to be regulated across the country."
- 11/14/98 APHA Statement on Tobacco Settlement Among Eight States, Industry U.S. Newswire
- Though few details
are available on the contents of the settlement, the American Public Health Association strongly believes that this or any settlement must
include the following: -- A substantial increase in the excise tax for tobacco products to reduce consumption . . . -- Strong look-back
provisions . .
- 11/13/98 Poll:
Use Tobacco Settlement to Reduce Youth Smoking U.S. Newswire
- State officials should use funds from any
tobacco settlement to reduce tobacco use among children, according to results of a telephone poll released today by the CAMPAIGN FOR
TOBACCO-FREE KIDS. The vast majority of those polled in each of 17 states believe that at least half of the money should be used
exclusively to combat tobacco addiction. The survey also found that more voters in each state favor spending the money on tobacco
prevention than on any of the other initiatives that were asked about -- including reducing taxes.
- 11/15/98 NEWS ANALYSIS Tide Turns in the Tobacco Wars New York Times
- But precisely because it only involves state governments, the latest settlement proposal is also likely to return the focus of the nation's debate over smoking back where many people believe it belongs, to Congress and the White House. . . most states, who will have about a week to consider the new deal, are expected to accept. A few that have worked hard to prepare their lawsuits, like Massachusettes, Maryland, Michigan and Wisconsin, may balk and bargain for stiffer terms. But for such officials, the decision between taking billions of dollars in free money for their states and rolling the dice against the industry in court may prove to be their last decision in this round of the tobacco wars.
- 11/15/98 $206b Tobacco Deal / Would Limit Ads, Repay States For Health Costs Newsday (Long Island, NY)
- A news conference is scheduled for tomorrow in Washington, D.C. Attorneys general from 38 other states have until Friday to decide whether they will accept the settlement, and the companies have until Nov. 23 to decide whether enough states have signed on to the deal . . . CALIFORNIA would get the most under the new deal, $23.985 billion, followed closely by NEW YORK, $23.981 billion, said Fred Olson, a spokesman for Attorney General Christine Gregoire of Washington State. The formula reflects Medicaid populations, among other factors.
- 11/15/98 Negotiators Finalize $206 Billion Tobacco Plan Reuters
- States must decide by Friday whether they will sign on to the new proposal. It will then be determined if there are enough participants to proceed with the settlement. The proposal will also be presented to the boards of major tobacco companies.
- 11/14/98 $206B Tobacco Settlement Struck AP
- Negotiators for the nation's four biggest tobacco companies and eight state attorneys general completed their review of the agreement Saturday afternoon. They were shipping copies of the documents to state attorneys general across the country for their approval. ``We have finished,'' said Attorney General Christine M. Gregoire of Washington state, who led the states' team during more than five months of negotiations. ``We have done the best we can do here.''
- 11/15/98 MD: Last-Minute Tobacco Negotiations Underway Washington Post
- Maryland attorneys continued to press for more concessions from tobacco manufacturers during last-minute negotiations in New York yesterday, as Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) issued a statement promising to "thoughtfully and carefully" consider whether the state should join a national settlement or continue with its lawsuit against the industry.
- 11/15/98 MA: Disappointed HARSHBARGER looks back Boston Globe
- For now, he is focused on giving THOMAS F. REILLY, the incoming attorney general, the kind of smooth transition that he himself never had. His baby, taking on the tobacco industry, weighs on his mind as he talks to Reilly about which direction to take. This week, Harshbarger will decide whether to participate in a new proposed national settlement with the tobacco giants or continue to prepare for a trial in February that would be handled by his successor. [this graph only]
- 11/14/98 Tobacco talks continue into
weekend MSNBC
- Tobacco and state negotiators have been unable to finalize a $200 billion settlement and now
hope to complete the deal this weekend and announce an agreement on Monday, a spokesman said on Friday. A SPOKESMAN for
Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire, the lead negotiator for the states, said that other attorneys general were informed
Thursday that they would not receive the final plan on Friday as previously expected. "Our next goal is Monday," said Fred Olson, an aide
to Gregoire.
- 11/16/98 FOCUS-U.S. states unveil
sweeping tobacco agreement Reuters
- ``The attorneys general have before them a tobacco settlement proposal that
would provide the states with $206 billion through the year 2025 -- the largest financial recovery in the history of the world,'' said
Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, who led the negotiations.
- 11/16/98 Rodeo riders not thrown in tobacco
deal Reuters
- ``Without U.S. Tobacco there would be no rodeo, and there would be no Western states signing onto
the deal and consequently there would be no deal,'' North Carolina Attorney General Michael EASLEY, a tobacco deal architect, said at a
news conference. Under the proposed settlement, tobacco logos also will be allowed to ride on stock cars and grace golf tournaments, but in
the coming months tobacco companies will have to scale back annual sponsorships to one sport each and pull down billboards in sports
stadiums.
- 11/16/98 CANADA: U.S. tobacco settlement
lure in Canadian legal effort Reuters
- British Columbia, with visions of the rich U.S. tobacco settlement, on
Monday began a quest for Canada's provinces to unite in a legal attack against the cigarette makers. British Columbia officials began a
cross-country trip to recruit partners for a Canadian battle to recoup smoking-related health costs.
- 11/16/98 Tobacco Deal Could Alter Industry AP
- Big Tobacco would be getting relief from one of its
scariest nightmares -- the risk of a big loss to a state over health care claims -- in a $206 billion settlement that may also set the stage for an
industry makeover. . . But critics say the marketing concessions -- no cartoon characters in ads or brand names on caps or duffel bags --
are mild compared to what the industry offered to give up two years ago in a settlement that collapsed in Congress.
- 11/16/98 States Outline Big Tobacco Deal AP
- At least 12 states will sign a $206 billion agreement to settle
lawsuits against the tobacco industry despite complaints that the deal falls far short of an earlier proposal that died in Congress this year.
- 11/16/98 Cigarette Makers
Agree to $206 Billion Settlement of State LawsuitsThat In Part Restricts Some Advertising AP
- At least 12 states
will sign a $206 billion agreement to settle lawsuits against the tobacco industry despite complaints that the deal falls far short of an earlier
proposal that died in Congress this year.
- 11/16/98 Attorneys General
Announce Tobacco Settlement Proposal PR Newswire
- In announcing the settlement, the Attorneys General said
it should be viewed as the beginning, not the end, of tobacco reform in this country. The Attorneys General said ``this is litigation, not
legislation. Congress should pass legislation to provide essential reforms -- including full Food and Drug Administration authority over
tobacco -- we pledge to help them.''
- 11/16/98 Key events in state
suits against tobacco industry CNN
- Spring 1994 Mississippi files the first state suit on behalf of taxpayers
forced to pay sick smokers' health costs. Within weeks, class action lawsuits representing millions of smokers nationwide also are filed
against the tobacco industry.
- 11/16/98 STREAMING
AUDIO: State Attorneys General Announce They Have Reached An Agreement With Four Major U.S. Tobacco Companies
Business Wire
- Listen to streaming audio which contains comments from Steve Parrish, senior vice president, Corporate Affairs,
Philip Morris at http://www.newstream.com/r98-343.shtml
- 11/16/98 AMA: Tobacco
Settlement Doesn't End Need for National Action on Tobacco PR Newswire
- ``The public health community and
the state attorneys general must have sufficient time to digest the key elements of the settlement. In the days ahead, we will analyze the
settlement document to better determine its value and to highlight other areas that must be addressed with congressional action on tobacco
this spring. . . Big Tobacco has done irreparable harm. The settlement dollars must make a public health difference to help end the scourge
of tobacco death and disease.''
- 11/16/98 NE: Tobacco settlement seen
favorable for NEBRASKA Reuters
- Nebraska's Attorney General Don Stenberg said Monday the state is unlikely to
exceed the $1.16 billion it could receive under a proposed tobacco agreement if it rejects the settlement. ``In my opinion it is unlikely that
Nebraska would obtain a judgment of more than one billion dollars if we refuse this settlement and continue our lawsuit,'' he said in a
statement. . . He also noted that, if the state takes its case to trial and wins, the court would not have the authority to impose any of the public
health provisions that have been negotiated.
- 11/16/98 OH: OHIO share of
tobacco deal would be $9 billion Akron Beacon Journal
- Ohio is in line for $9 billion over 25 years through a deal
worked out between eight states and representatives of the tobacco industry, Ohio Attorney General Betty MONTGOMERY announced
Monday. State officials have until Friday to sign onto the deal or proceed with a state lawsuit to recover smoking-related expenses from the
tobacco companies. ``I am very pleased that we now have a settlement proposal after months of hard work,'' Montgomery said in a news
release.
- 11/16/98 CA: CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK
win big under tobacco deal Reuters
- California and New York would be the biggest winners, with each state
receiving about $24 billion under the settlement reached between the tobacco industry and eight state attorneys general.
- 11/16/98 OR: WYDEN Unimpressed With Tobacco Deal Reuters
- U-S Senator Ron Wyden of
Oregon is unimpressed with today's announcement of a 206-BILLION dollar tobacco settlement with several states. The Democrat told a
Washington, D.C. news conference that the settlement ``does virtually nothing to protect the public's health.''
- 11/16/98 PA: PA Attorney
General Fisher, AGs Announce Potential National Settlement of Tobacco Litigation PR Newswire
- "When I
announced Pennsylvania's lawsuit against the tobacco industry in April 1997, I said it was aimed at stopping tobacco companies from
marketing to our kids,'' Fisher said. "I'm pleased to report that this settlement proposal would accomplish that goal by banning outdoor
advertisements and prohibiting tobacco merchandise that have turned our children into walking billboards. Joe Camel and all his smoking
cartoon pals would be blown away.''
- 11/16/98 PA: Pennsylvania
Health Groups Call for Rejection of Multi-State Tobacco Settlement PR Newswire
- ``Instead of achieving the
Attorneys General stated goals of protecting children from tobacco and reimbursing states for Medicaid costs imposed by tobacco, the
tobacco industry's proposal to the state AGs would grant the industry outrageous and unprecedented protections,'' said Coalition Vice
President Bill Godshall.
- 11/16/98 KY: PATTON, Lawmakers Review Tobacco Deal Reuters
- Governor Paul Patton and Kentucky
lawmakers will begin pouring over the proposed tobacco settlement today. Attorneys general from eight states say cigarette makers would
pay 12 BILLION dollars in upfront money over five years under a proposed out-of-court settlement with the tobacco industry
- 11/16/98 Tobacco Industry
Statement on AG Settlement PR Newswire
- While we remain confident in our legal defenses, we are prepared to
accept this proposed agreement as a way to end this unique litigation and join in a common sense approach to addressing important
tobacco issues.
- 11/16/98 States Outline Payment Schedule
Under Tobacco Deal Reuters
- States Attorneys General said on Monday that tobacco firms would pay $12 billion
in upfront money over five years as part of a previously announced $206 billion proposed settlement with tobacco companies. In a
statement, the Attorneys General said the firms would then pay more than $9 billion per year to the states starting in 2008. The $206
billion total would run through 2025
- 11/16/98 White House Says Tobacco Deal Important Step Reuters
- The White House Monday greeted a
proposed $206 billion settlement between states and the tobacco industry as an important step, but said passing national tobacco legislation
was still a top priority.
- 11/16/98 CLINTON
backs tobacco deal CNN
- President Bill Clinton applauded a weekend agreement between cigarette makers and
state attorneys general on Monday, but said the $206 billion deal is only a step in the ongoing tobacco regulation process. Under terms of
the fragile agreement, four tobacco companies will pay for a $1.7 billion anti-smoking educational and research campaign and will
shoulder increased advertising and promotional restrictions. In return, the companies - R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Lorillard and Brown
& Williamson - will be immune to all future civil and criminal lawsuits once they lose a state lawsuit.
- 11/16/98 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL TO HOLD BRIEFING On Major Tobacco Litigation Development
Bloomberg News
- Attorneys General from six states will hold a media briefing Monday (November 16th) to outline a new
tobacco industry proposal to the states. The news event will take place at 2 p.m. in the First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club [Not on their schedule yet]. To
listen in on the event live, dial 800-633-8492.
- 11/16/98 Gary Black: New Settlement: Less Onerous Payment Stream Could Fuel Positive Revisions. 43-45 States In. Tobacco
BBS
- [This report features the payment schedule; not included in the report is Black's expectation that Clinton will embrace the deal by 3:00PM] The all-in cost of this 47-state settlement will be reported in the press at
$206.3 billion. However, this represents 26 (rather than 25) years of payments, applies a 3% inflation factor to the five initial payments
($2.4 billion per year), and excludes the $100 million UST settlement. Apples-to-apples vs. the June 20 accord ($368.5 billion over 25
years), the all-in-cost of this deal is $197.6 billion.The incremental pricing needed to pay for this 47-state settlement is $.35/pack
cumulatively over four years, with $.30/pack in pricing needed by January 1, 1999 if the industry accrues and increases prices for the
payments due in 2000/1Q in 1999. . . Our sources say that UST has negotiated a separate deal that requires $100 million in initial
payments ($20m upfront, $20m each year 2000-2003), but no ongoing payments
- 11/17/98 TALKING POINT-Tobacco deal may not light up shares Reuters
- In light of the run-up
that has already occurred in some stocks, reasons for a short-term pause include: uncertainty over how many other states sign on to the
accord; fears that demand will be hit by higher prices for cigarettes; and concern over the hundreds of other lawsuits still pending against the
industry. There is also the threat that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would gain authority to regulate tobacco, analysts warned.
President Bill Clinton on Monday said he would ask the Supreme Court decide whether the FDA had such authority.
- 11/16/98 Wall Street Bullish on Tobacco Deal Newsday
- Wall Street sees Big Tobacco's new $206-billion
settlement of lawsuits with state attorneys general as a big plus for the companies, even though they would pay the biggest amount in the
history of civil litigation. "This puts the litigation wave behind the industry," Gary Black, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said
yesterday. "You are basically eliminating the largest litigation risks that depress valuations of tobacco stocks."
- 11/16/98 Big Tobacco Is
Surviving USA Today
- The accord still leaves the industry with hundreds of lawsuits unresolved, says Jack
Maxwell, a securities analyst with Davenport & Co. in Richmond, Va. ''It's a short-term victory, but there's a lot more to come.''
- 11/16/98 Jockeying Starts Over
Tobacco Deal AP
- Several state attorneys general say they are impressed with the proposed $206 billion tobacco
settlement but want to examine the details before deciding whether to sign. . . Tobacco analysts will be watching Massachusetts, Maryland
and Michigan for their reaction. . . Anti-smoking activist Bill Novelli of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said local public health
officials were being alerted to make sure the money that would go to the states through the year 2025 ``isn't diverted to non-public health
areas.'' ``There is going to a huge food fight over these dollars,'' he said.
- 11/16/98Top
Tobacco Firms Agree to Pay States Up to $206 Billion in 25-Year Settlement The Wall Street Journal
- The
industry also took back many of the concessions it offered in June 1997 in a $368.5 billion proposal . . . Under the new proposal, the
tobacco industry would not accede to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration or be required to print additional and unequivocal
health warnings on cigarette packs. Sports promotions of brand labels and cigarette advertising in retail stores would be permitted, albeit
with some restrictions. And the tobacco companies wouldn't pay any annual penalties if youth smoking doesn't decline in the future, as
they agreed to in 1997.
- 11/16/98 ANTI-SMOKING: Groups call for slower look at proposed deal Financial Times
- The American Heart Association called on the negotiators to disclose full details of the deal - which would end the worst of the litigation they face - and to allow "a reasonable time frame for public review of this important document". Action on Smoking and Health, a not-for-profit anti-smoking group, said it had already started writing to judges in the most populous states urging them to delay approval of the deal pending a public review.
- 11/16/98 WI: Wisconsin
weighing tobacco settlement (11/16/1998) Pioneer Press
- Wisconsin's attorney general praised a $206 billion
agreement eight states reached with the tobacco industry to settle claims over the costs of treating sick smokers, but said Sunday he had not
decided whether to join them.
- 11/16/98 OH: Ohio reviewing
tobacco deal Akron Beacon Journal
- If a proposed settlement between the tobacco industry and state attorneys
general is successful, Ohio would not go forward with its lawsuit -- filed last year -- against tobacco companies, Chris Davey, spokesman
for Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery, said yesterday. Eric Brown, Montgomery's lead tobacco negotiator, left New York Saturday
- 11/16/98 NH: N.H.
attorney general to begin reviewing tobacco settlement today Foster's Democrat
- Attorney General PHILIP
MCLAUGHLIN planned to begin reviewing a proposed $206 billion settlement with the tobacco industry today, but says he will take his time
deciding whether to sign onto it.
- 11/16/98 IL: State Tobacco Yield Could Be In Billions Chicago Tribune
- Illinois stands to gain $9.1 billion
during the next 25 years under terms of the proposed settlement between tobacco companies and states to cover smoking-related health
costs, officials said Sunday. "We believe this to be the largest monetary settlement in the history of Illinois," said Dan Curry, a spokesman
for state Atty. Gen. JIM RYAN.
- 11/16/98 NC: Easley
says deal must aid growers Raleigh News & Observer
- Characterizing North Carolina as "in a state of denial on
tobacco," Attorney General Mike Easley called Sunday for part of the $5 billion the state will receive under a historic national tobacco
settlement to be used to aid areas long dependent on tobacco. "I think it would be irresponsible not to take a substantial portion of this
settlement to address the needs of tobacco-dependent communities," Easley said in an interview. "I'm going to be talking with the political
leadership of this state and encouraging them to address this in a meaningful way."
- 11/16/98 WA: GREGOIRE thinks latest tobacco deal will be approved Seattle Times
- "I believe we have
extracted everything that can be extracted from a lawsuit and then some," Gregoire, the lead negotiator in the deal, said in her first extended
interview after settling terms with the tobacco industry over the weekend. "I don't know of any case that has the kind of reform on how a
company does business that this settlement has."
- 11/16/98 WA: Panel recommends money be used on anti-smoking programs AP
- A large chunk
of Washington's share of money from the proposed $4 billion national tobacco settlement should be spent on a wide range of anti-tobacco
programs, from school-based efforts to state-funded stop-smoking programs, a panel of public-health experts recommends. "We have an
historic opportunity to use money we receive to reduce the disease and death caused by tobacco use," the 30-member task force said in a
report submitted to state Attorney General Christine Gregoire.
- 11/16/98 OH: Ohio weighs
tobacco settlement Cincinnati Enquirer
- If a proposed settlement between the tobacco industry and state attorneys
general is successful, Ohio would not go forward with its lawsuit - filed last year - against tobacco companies, Chris Davey, spokesman for
Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery, said Sunday.
- 11/16/98 PA: UPCI and
Other Pennsylvania Research Centers Request Tobacco Settlement Money To Ease Cancer Burden, Enhance Research PR
Newswire
- The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) is joining forces with Fox Chase Cancer Center, Kimmel
Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Temple Cancer Center, Penn State Geisinger
Health System Cancer Center and Wistar Institute to propose that 25 percent of the tobacco settlement be set aside to support the excellent
cancer research these centers are conducting.
- 11/16/98 Sources & Sidebars For Monday, Nov. 16: Tobacco Settlement Bloomberg News
- The following
individuals can provide editors and reporters with commentary and background on this story. They are leading experts with varying
perspectives included in ProfNet's Experts Database. You'll find complete entries at www.profnet.com/ped. [NOTE: Not having contacted
these individuals, we know neither their perspective on recent developments nor their immediate availability.] . . . ProfNet is a collaboration
of 4,100 public information officers linked by e-mail to provide journalists convenient access to expert sources.
- 11/15/98 Proposed Tobacco Settlement Criticized by Health Organizations Bloomberg News
- ``I can't say I
feel strongly one way or the other about it,'' Kessler said. ``It's all about money, and there's almost nothing in it for public health.''
- 11/19/98 MI, MO, TN, NH:
Four More States Back Tobacco Deal AP
- MICHIGAN, MISSOURI, TENNESSEE And NEW HAMPSHIRE are
the latest to sign on and no state so far has said it rejects the deal.
- 11/19/98 NH, AL: NEW HAMPSHIRE, ALA. back tobacco deal Sun-Sentinel
- NEW HAMPSHIRE today
became the 19th state to endorse a $206 billion deal with tobacco companies that would resolve state claims for the costs of health care for
sick smokers. . . That includes ALABAMA, whose attorney general disclosed late Wednesday that he had signed the deal on Tuesday despite
objections from the governor.
- 11/19/98 Proposed Tobacco Settlement Labeled Too Soft on Industry The Washington Post
- Critics
found what they called loopholes and unexpected industry benefits in the complex agreement, which would shut down the biggest legal threat
the industry has ever faced. . . Chief among the industry's boons, some critics said, is a provision that would grant the industry credit on the
money it pays states, if Congress in the next four years passes a cigarette tax and sends some of it to states for tobacco control or certain other
uses. If Congress, for instance, passed a cigarette tax, then sent the money to states for children's health care, the industry could subtract those
taxes from its payments to the states.
- 11/19/98 17 States Plan
To Sign Tobacco Deal AP
- OHIO, HAWAII and IDAHO came out Wednesday in favor of the deal even as 10
to 15 other attorneys general were said to be discussing aspects of the deal in a private conference call. . . CONNECTICUT Attorney General
Richard BLUMENTHAL said it was the second conference call in as many days for attorneys general who are trying to analyze some of
the more complex provisions of the massive proposal.
- 11/19/98 VT: Lung Association Opposes Settlement Reuters
- The Vermont Lung Association is opposing
the latest proposed settlement with big tobacco. It's calling on State Attorney General William Sorrell to reject the offer and pursue the state's
own lawsuit.
- 11/19/98 MA: Tobacco foes cite US claim in suit / HARSHBARGER said to favor settlement The Boston Globe
- With much of the focus on the $4 billion that Massachusetts could receive by joining the national tobacco settlement, some antismoking
advocates who oppose the deal have raised an issue few have considered: The federal government has a 50 percent claim on those funds.
- 11/19/98 MD: Md. Debates Accepting Settlement On Tobacco, Pursuing Court Case The Washington Post
- But CURRAN's lobbying success has left him with a tough choice: Does he accept the $4.2 billion offered this week as part of a
national settlement with the tobacco industry, or does he decide the state's case is so strong that Maryland is better off going to trial to try to
get more money?
- 11/19/98 MD: Tobacco settlement is called misleading The Baltimore Sun
- SMOKE FREE MARYLAND, a
coalition of 65 organizations that includes all the state's major health advocacy groups, wrote Gov. Parris N. GLENDENING and Attorney
General J. Joseph CURRAN Jr. yesterday urging them not to sign the deal. "We think we can get a better deal by taking Maryland's case to
court," said Dr. Albert L. BLUMBERG, president of Smoke Free Maryland. Moreover, he said, accepting the settlement could weaken political
support for potentially more effective measures against teen smoking
- 11/19/98 OH: Ohio
joins tobacco deal Cincinnati Enquirer
- Flanked by representatives from health groups, Attorney General Betty
MONTGOMERY said Wednesday that Ohio would net more from the deal than it possibly could have gained by pursuing a lawsuit against
Big Tobacco. "There's no way we could have gotten the restrictions on advertising and marketing on our own," she said. "Every day we delay,
we have more children smoking and kids who are more likely to die."
- 11/19/98 NC: Tobacco
talks go to governors Raleigh News & Observer
- The next round of negotiations on North Carolina's landmark tobacco
settlement will take place in the governor's office. So says Phil Carlton, an old friend of Gov. Jim Hunt's and the cigarette industry's point man in
negotiations that culminated in the historic $206 billion legal settlement unveiled Monday. . ."This second part of the agreement is really about
economic development in tobacco states, not a straight legal settlement for all the states," Carlton said. "That makes it appropriate to negotiate this
part of the settlement with the governors rather than AGs."
- 11/19/98 NC: Minorities Want Voice In Settlement / Smokeout Set For Today Reuters
- The state
Minority Health Advisory Council wants to make sure there's input from the minority community in how money from a tobacco settlement is
distributed. . . Even in tobacco-rich North Carolina, smokers are being encouraged to take part in today's ``Great American Smokeout''
- 11/19/98 WV: Tobacco Settlement Deadline Nears Reuters
- Officials say the offer would give the state
68-Million dollars annually until the year 2025... and then 70-Million dollars annually forever. Officials say they're consulting with state
agencies on whether to accept the settlement.
- 11/19/98KY: Patton Calls For Farmer Protection / &W Reacts To Proposal Reuters
- A spokesman for
Louisville-based tobacco giant Brown and Williamson says Governor Paul Patton's proposed two-BILLION-dollar compensation to tobacco
farmers is premature.
- 11/19/98 KY: Ky.
attorney general leaning toward pact Cincinnati Enquirer
- Attorney General Ben CHANDLER said the only
alternative for Kentucky to get something from the manufacturers would be to file its own lawsuit, and he would not be confident the state
could win.
- 11/19/98 KY: State leaders push tobacco companies Lexington Herald-Leader
- Kentucky appears
likely to join a $206 billion national tobacco settlement, but top political leaders yesterday still were pressing tobacco companies to put a
price tag on their pledge to help leaf growers make up lost income. Gov. Paul PATTON said cigarette makers should put up an extra $2.2
billion to compensate
- 11/19/98 WI: While making deal, PHILIP MORRIS officials gave to THOMPSON Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel
- As their lawyers were hammering out a multibillion-dollar settlement with the states, Philip Morris executives and their subsidiaries did their best to clog Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's campaign coffers with cash. Since Aug. 1, Thompson received 55 campaign donations totaling $20,100 from high-ranking officials at Philip Morris and its Wisconsin operations. Those include MILLER BREWING, OSCAR MAYER, TOMBSTONE PIZZA and KRAFT FOODS.
- 11/19/98 MO: State faces deadline for decision on tobacco settlement St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- ``I think
that people recognize the risk of continued litigation,'' NIXON said Wednesday. ``This offer is a serious and significant offer that could
relatively quickly provide resources and relief that would make a real difference.''
- 11/19/98 KS: State Might Get $1.5 Billion Wichita Eagle
- Attorney General Carla STOVALL on Wednesday
said Kansas could receive $1.5 billion in the proposed tobacco settlement, a figure that immediately prompted talk about how the money
might be spent. As Stovall briefed lawmakers on the landmark proposal between cigarette makers and 46 states, public health advocates said
they were preparing for a legislative fight over the money.
- 11/19/98
OK: Tobacco Money May Help Pensions, Health Care The Oklahoman
- A bill filed Wednesday by two state
lawmakers earmarks the $2 billion in tobacco money Oklahoma will receive for health care programs and for shoring up the state teachers'
pension system. "Since this settlement would be a one-time windfall, this money should be invested for the benefit of all Oklahomans,
especially children," said state Rep. Jari ASKINS, D-Duncan, author of House Bill 1002.
- 11/19/98
OK: Tobacco Case Lawyers Expected to Pare Fees The Oklahoman
- Six law firms that represented Oklahoma in its
lawsuit against the tobacco industry could receive a contingency fee projected at $300 million, but they'll likely settle for far less, Attorney
General Drew Edmondson said Wednesday. "I think the actual payments, while they will be significant, are going to be far less than what they
contracted for," he said.
- 11/19/98 CA: Health Groups Decry Tobacco Settlement Los Angeles Times
- Every major
public health organization in California decried the proposed $206-billion national tobacco settlement Wednesday and urged Atty. Gen.-elect
Bill LOCKYER and other government officials to take whatever steps necessary to prevent the deal from taking effect.
- 11/18/98 Gary Black: Return
of the Oligopoly: Earnings Management Anyone? Raising MO Price Target. Outperforms. Tobacco BBS
- We
expect all AGs to embrace the new settlement by Friday’s deadline. As litigation uncertainty is transformed from a long-tailed liability
to an expense that can be priced, investors are likely to reduce litigation discounts further, and shift their focus to buybacks, spinoffs, and the
resumption of oligopolistic pricing behavior. We have raised our MO price target to $65-$70 . . The favorable renegade terms by which
non-signatories can join this deal -- no payments unless market share exceeds 125% of 1997 share -- will likely bring in all renegades except
Liggett.
- 11/18/98 Where States Stand On Tobacco
Deal MSNBC
- The states that earlier signed on are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, New
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington. Many of the remaining state attorneys general were
meeting this week with elected officials and public health activists to discuss the proposal.
- 11/18/98 Tobacco Agreement Supported by Almost Half of Remaining States Bloomberg News
- States
including OHIO, WISCONSIN, NEBRASKA and IDAHO today backed the agreement, bringing the tally to 22 of the 46 states that haven't
already settled . . . If an unspecified target number of states join by Friday's deadline, the companies will sign the settlement by
Monday.
- 11/18/98 16 States Will
Sign Tobacco Deal AP
- OHIO and IDAHO joined 14 other states that say they will sign the $206 billion tobacco
settlement while attorneys general who have yet to decide conferred by telephone Wednesday about the massive proposal.
- 11/18/98 Tobacco Deal Ignores Global Problems, Critics Say ($) NewsEdge
- "There is not a
single international tobacco-control measure in this deal, " says Robert Weissman, co-director of Essential Action, a Washington-based
group which opposes the big tobacco firms. "The attorneys-general who are backing this are making a mistake." "It is irresponsible of the
attorneys-general to let big tobacco (firms) off the hook," adds Karen Licavoli, associate executive director of the American Lung Association
of San Francisco. "Any settlement must protect public health both in the United States and abroad."
- 11/18/98 Did tobacco foes forget the
Net? MSNBC
- Tobacco critics say the group just didn¹t have the leverage against the tobacco industry to include
the Internet this time around. . . As yet, the tobacco industry¹s appearances on the Web have been rare. There has been no tobacco brand
advertising online, and there¹s no marlboro.com, camel.com or winston.com site, for example. . . "The way the tobacco companies see it, the
Internet is accessed via phone lines and the [Federal Communications Commission] has jurisdiction over phone lines," one agency source
says.
- 11/18/98 PROFILE: CHRISTINE GREGOIRE: Lawyer Tenacious in Tobacco Talks AP
- When
Mississippi settled its lawsuit against Big Tobacco last year, Christine Gregoire was left as the chief negotiator across the table from a
powerful special interest. . . Before she helped cobble together what would be the biggest civil settlement in U.S. history, Mrs. Gregoire had
teamed up with Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore to broker the landmark 1997 tobacco deal that later faltered in Congress.
- 11/18/98
APHA Raises Concerns About Tobacco Settlement U.S. Newswire
- APHA believes that any acceptable state
tobacco settlement must include the following elements and that negotiations must be reopened to include: -- Adequate comment and input
from the public health community and from the public at large;
- 11/16/98
NADER Criticizes 'Sweetheart Deal' for Big Tobacco U.S. Newswire
- What possible justification is there for
ramming this deal through? Is the industry trying to circumvent newly elected, tougher-on-tobacco attorneys general in California, New York
and elsewhere? The deal would let the industry get off cheap, enable the companies to keep secret many of their most incriminating
documents, interfere with local enforcement actions and suits against Big Tobacco, and tie the hands of future attorneys general in addressing
future misconduct by the industry. It contains worrisome provisions that will enable Big Tobacco to shield its food and beverage divisions
from payment obligations.
- 11/16/98
ENACT Statement on State AGs, Tobacco Industry Settlement U.S. Newswire
- 1. This legal settlement between
states and tobacco companies is in no way a substitute for a national tobacco control policy. -- There are critical areas the settlement does not
cover at all, including FDA regulation of tobacco products, restrictions on youth access to tobacco, protections against environmental
(secondhand) tobacco smoke, stronger health warnings, penalties if youth smoking rates don't decline, and assistance for tobacco farmers. . .
2. It is our understanding that the settlement does not require that the states spend any of the funds they receive on tobacco control
efforts.
- 11/16/98
Statement by AAP President on State Attorneys General Settlement U.S. Newswire
- First, the American people, the
tobacco industry, Congress and the Clinton administration must understand that this settlement is a step in an ongoing process. . . Second,
the American Academy of Pediatrics is urging governors and state legislators who accept the settlement to commit the funds to tobacco
control programs.
- 11/18/98 ID: Idaho attorney general
signs tobacco deal Reuters
- Idaho Attorney General Al Lance said the state stood to receive $711 million by the
year 2025 under the terms of the settlement, which he signed at a news conference.
- 11/18/98 AL: James Asks For 30 Day Tobacco Delay Reuters
- Governor Fob JAMES has asked
Attorney General Bill PRYOR for a 30 day delay in the tobacco settlement process . . . Meanwhile, Montgomery lawyer Jere BEASLEY is
asking a local circuit court judge to combine Governor James' tobacco lawsuit with one filed by Attorney General Bill Pryor.
- 11/18/98 KY: Patton, Lawmakers Meet On Tobacco Reuters
- Tobacco takes center state at meetings
today between Governor Paul Patton and Kentucky lawmakers
- 11/18/98 CO: Health groups,
legislators huddle on tobacco money Rocky Mountain News
- Attorney General Gale Norton came home Tuesday
with what she described as a victory for Coloradans that will put $100 million a year from tobacco sales into state health programs. Exactly
where that money will go is still undecided. Representatives of the American Cancer Society, the Coalition for the Medically Under Served
and the American Heart and Lung associations met with members of the Joint Budget Committee late Tuesday to talk about that.
- 11/18/98 CA: AMERICAN
CANCER SOCIETY States Attorneys General Tobacco Settlement Is Wrong For California PR Newswire
- It appears
the settlement does not adequately hold the tobacco industry accountable for the death, disease, and suffering caused by their tobacco
products. The loopholes in the advertising and marketing provisions serve to render them virtually ineffective. The agreement is further
compromised by its inability to control tobacco industry compliance. This settlement will allow the tobacco companies to operate as they
have in the past.
- 11/18/98 LA: State Already Spending Tobacco Money Reuters
- State lawmakers are already talking
about dividing up the spoils of the more than four-BILLION dollars Louisiana will receive from the nationwide settlement with tobacco
companies.
- 11/18/98 ID: Lance Says Tobacco Deal Pays Big Reuters
- Idaho Attorney General Alan Lance
says the state will probably get more money from the tobacco settlement than it would from a jury. Lance told the legislature's budget-writing
committee that 712-Million dollars over the next 25 years is better than most Idaho juries would be willing to give.
- 11/18/98 NY: 24B Cig WindfallSets Off Skirmish New York Daily News
- A tug-of-war has begun over
how to spend the $24 billion earmarked for New York as part of a proposed settlement with the nation's cigarette makers. In Albany,
legislative leaders began floating ideas yesterday on how to spend the extra cash, suggesting needs ranging from tax cuts to school fixups.
But Mayor Giuliani urged caution and questioned whether the out-of-court settlement hammered out by New York Attorney General Dennis
Vacco and prosecutors from seven other states goes far enough.
- 11/18/98 VA: Tobacco Farmers See Future As Cloudy The Washington Post
- Industry analysts
predict the deal would bring steep rises in the price of cigarettes and a growing reliance on cheaper foreign tobacco. Both would be bad
news for Virginia's 10,000 tobacco farmers.
- 11/18/98 KY: Senators think state will take tobacco offer Lexington Herald-Leader
- As Kentucky
officials debated whether to join other states in a settlement, most legislators -- as well as Attorney General Ben Chandler and Gov. Paul
Patton -- were staying tight-lipped about what might happen. But two Senate leaders -- Sens. Walter BLEVINS and Joey PENDLETON --
said yesterday they think CHANDLER is leaning toward a settlement. Both Blevins and Pendleton attended a more than two-hour briefing
Monday night with Chandler, Patton and other lawmakers.
- 11/18/98 WI:
Wisconsin joins tobacco settlement Pioneer Press
- Wisconsin is likely to get up to $5.9 billion over 25 years with
payments starting in 2000. "Joe Camel is gone and any future Joe Camel is gone,'' Attorney General James Doyle said, referring to the
cartoon character formerly used in Camel cigarette ads.
- 11/18/98 WI: With PM-WI--Tobacco Settlement Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Highlights of
Wisconsin' s lawsuit against tobacco companies: February 1997: Wisconsin files lawsuit against tobacco industry.
- 11/17/98 CA: Proposal draws yeas, nays here / Some say teens to still get cigarettes San Diego
Union-Tribune
- People interviewed yesterday generally favor making Big Tobacco pay $206 billion to curb advertising and
marketing and fund a $1.5 billion anti-smoking campaign, but remain skeptical about where the final dollars will flow.
- 11/18/98 BUYER
BEWARE -- AGAIN: Professor Robert Dolan, Harvard Business School, Releases an Opinion Piece Regarding The Most Recent
Agreement Between The States And The Four Major Tobacco Companies PR Newswire
- In preparing to testify as
an expert witness on marketing practices for the state of Minnesota in that state's trial against Big Tobacco last spring, I reviewed more than
5,000 internal company documents. That exercise made crystal clear the disingenuousness of their claim that their marketing objective was
simply to switch current adult smokers from one brand to another, but not try to persuade teenagers to begin smoking or to keep other
people hooked on the habit. Nonsense.. . New weapons will be needed
for the companies' arsenals as well. If history is a guide, they will be found and implemented. Indeed, since the settlement provides no
penalty for the levels of youth smoking, the incentives are in place for pursuing this part of the market.
- 11/18/98 Despite
deal, tobacco will still fuel NASCAR Raleigh News & Observer
- "The definition in the master agreement, the
definition of brand-name sponsorship, would allow the sponsorship of one event, which could be a series like Winston Cup racing," said
Andy Vanore, general counsel to the state attorney general.
- 11/18/98 Fitch IBCA Comments On Tobacco Industry $206B Attorney Generals Settlement - Fitch IBCA
PR Newswire
- Fitch IBCA expects to meet with the management teams of the tobacco companies to discuss the
credit implications of the settlement as well as any changes in financial policy and strategic initiatives that may follow. A comprehensive
settlement agreement with the AGs, will remove many obstacles that have prevented these changes in the past. Fitch IBCA believes that a
rating action prior to those discussions as well as final approval of the document would be premature.
- 11/18/98
REYNOLDS on track to back NASCAR / Tobacco proposal protects sponsorship Richmond Times-Dispatch
- The agreement, in essence, makes no changes to Winston Cup racing and may not affect other R.J. Reynolds involvement in NASCAR
such as sanctioned events at Southside Speedway. If R.J. Reynolds goes with NASCAR, other sports sponsorships would probably be
dropped
- 11/17/98 Tobacco deal:
What next? CNN
- In this story: Highlights of proposed tobacco deal Clinton urges national tobacco legislation
Not the end of lawsuits Related stories and sites
- 11/18/98 What The Proposed Tobacco Deal Will And Won't Do CNN
- 11/17/98
GRAPHIC: Map of participating states CNN
- 11/17/98 State AGs Weigh
Tobacco Deal AP
- Cigarette makers haven't said how many states must sign on for the industry to proceed with the
deal that was announced Monday, and there may be no magic number. It could be a judgment call on what states choose to fight the industry
in court. The two biggest, California and New York, are on board
- 11/17/98 NEWS ANALYSIS Accord Ends Key Phase in Ongoing Tobacco War Los Angeles Times
- The record $206-billion legal settlement announced Monday between the nation's major cigarette makers and state attorneys general
has ended the most pivotal phase of a grueling legal war of attrition that began in 1994 with state lawsuits seeking recovery of tax money
spent treating sick smokers. If approved by the states, as expected, the 131-page agreement will eliminate the single greatest legal threat
facing the $50-billion-a-year industry. However, the industry still faces hundreds of lawsuits filed by well-financed plaintiffs' attorneys in
courts around the country, and its legal problems are by no means over. . . The union health-care cases are "the next big front," said Patrick
J. Coughlin, a San Diego attorney who represents the plaintiffs in most of these cases.
- 11/17/98 CLINTON applauds, critics pan proposal Winston-Salem Journal
- Clinton hailed the settlement as an
''important step in the right direction'' and called on Congress to pass legislation next year to protect tobacco farmers and to clarify the
jurisdiction of the federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. Anti-smoking advocates said that the deal isn't strong enough.
The American Lung Association called on states to reject it.
- 11/17/98 More States, White House Endorse Tobacco Deal The Washington Post
- A $206 billion proposed
tobacco settlement picked up crucial support yesterday from several state attorneys general and from the White House . . .Many of the
largest health groups expressed concern that the industry was getting too much in return for its multibillion-dollar payout over the next 25
years. A smaller but politically potent coalition went further, urging states to reject the deal. The reaction came as details of the complex,
146-page agreement . . . became public.
- 11/17/98 States are urged to
join tobacco litigation Pioneer Press
- Public health advocates generally stopped short of saying whether states
should join the settlement, saying they still were reading the fine print. But they blasted the short deadline that state officials have to decide
whether to join. And some noted there are no guarantees that the states will spend the money on tobacco-control efforts.
- 11/17/98Is Tobacco
Settlement Good News for Firms? The Wall Street Journal (pay registration)
- The tobacco industry's newest settlement with a big
group of states is emerging as a far better deal for cigarette makers than widely expected, and could mark a turning point in their long fight
against the legal assault on smoking. . . Missing from the settlement were many of the onerous cigarette-marketing restrictions contained in
the historic settlement proposal the industry signed in June 1997.
- 11/17/98 In a Second Effort, States Unveil a Proposed Tobacco Settlement New York Times
- Still, it
appears that the new plan will succeed where the earlier one failed. So far, more than a dozen states have publicly announced their support for
the proposal and most others are expected to sign on by Friday, when officials must indicate whether they will participate in the proposal or
continue with lawsuits against the industry. Christine Gregoire, the Washington state attorney general and a lead negotiator of the new plan,
said she believed that the time had come to "stop the legal bickering and move the tobacco fight out of the courtroom and into the
streets."
- 11/17/98 States Fuming Over
Feds' Smoke $Ignals New York Post
- Even as Clinton praised the pact, his spokesman told reporters, "The federal
government is under some obligation to claim some of this money" as reimbursement for its share of smoking-related Medicaid costs. In
Medicaid fraud awards, for example, Uncle Sam gets 50 percent of any payout. "We look forward to working with the states to figure out the
best way to do that or ... to make sure the money is used for children and the reduction of teen smoking," the spokesman, Joe Lockhart, told
reporters. That got Albany fuming. "We don't believe the feds have a claim to the money and ... we think we'll prevail," said Vacco
spokesman Chris McKenna.
- 11/17/98 A New Call for National Tobacco Laws, Prompted by States' Deal, Faces Hurdles The Wall Street Journal
- If new legislation is
drafted, the tobacco industry is determined to oppose any bill that isn't crafted to its specifications. With its deep pockets, it could easily
repeat the $40 million-plus national advertising campaign that crushed tobacco legislation earlier this year. . . There are some new ideas
blooming in the Senate, including a plan under consideration by Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah to provide financial
incentives to tobacco companies to make less harmful
cigarettes and give the FDA more regulatory power
- 11/17/98 Billion dollar tobacco deal BBC Online
- And some anti-smoking campaigners are also unhappy that
the agreement does not go far enough. Paul Billings of the American Lung Association: It's not just a question of money"It allows the
tobacco companies to continue to market their products to children the way they always have," said Paul Billings of the American Lung
Association. "They have agreed not to primarily target kids, but if the advertisement is geared to an adult and just happens to target kids then
it appears to be allowed to go forward."
- 11/17/98 Tobacco
pact set, but demands linger Raleigh News & Observer
- The agreement would bring a financial windfall for states
that join it, with $4.6 billion earmarked for North Carolina over 25 years.
- 11/17/98 Big Payday In Tobacco Settlement Newsday
- Estimates for legal fees on the tobacco
agreement with states start at about $10 billion and go as high as $13.5 billion, analysts say, making this deal one of the biggest payouts
ever for attorneys negotiating a civil settlement.. . Overall, the companies are budgeting up to $500 million per year to cover the lawyer
fees. That means if the amount does turn out to be 5 percent of the total, it would take 20 years to pay the lawyers. In addition to RICE's
firm and SCRUGGS, more than 125 law firms are involved, Rice said, including HAGENS & BERMAN of Seattle, Wash., which
represents several states.
- 11/17/98 Critics: Sweetheart
Deal For Tobacco Cincinnati Post
- ''The deal would leave the Marlboro Man in the saddle and the tobacco companies
in the driver's seat,'' said Jeffrey Barg, president of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Pennsylvania. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader urged
states to reject what he termed a ''sweetheart deal'' that ''would let the industry get off cheap, enable the companies to keep secret many of the
incriminating documents, interfere with local enforcement actions and suits against Big Tobacco and tie the hands of future attorneys
general.''
- 11/17/98 US anti-smoking groups
want to delay settlement Business Day
- US antismoking groups prepared yesterday to unleash a campaign to halt
a proposed $206bn settlement struck by tobacco companies, accusing its architects of trying to rush it through without public
scrutiny.
- 11/17/98 INFACT Urges State Attorneys General to Reject Big Tobacco's Raw Deal PR
Newswire
- As the tobacco industry fights for the proposed state settlement, it blocks real progress on the federal level. Philip
Morris was the largest soft-money donor in 1997-98 and a key force behind the $50 million public relations campaign that defeated
tobacco control legislation last session. . . The tobacco industry's firm grip on established avenues of reform has provoked figures with
the stature of former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to endorse INFACT's Tobacco Industry Campaign and Boycott. "Until the
industry ceases its aggressive marketing practices and interference in our democracy," says Dr. Koop, "consumers should apply
economic pressure on Big Tobacco by refusing to purchase Philip Morris' Kraft and RJR's Nabisco food products."
- 11/17/98 For Leaf
Firms, Breathing Room -- And Some 'Residual Risks' Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Yesterday's proposed tobacco
settlement gives Philip Morris USA and other major cigarette-makers some breathing room, but it doesn't snuff out their legal troubles. . . "There are still residual risks," said Gary Black
- 11/17/98 REAL AUDIO:
Seeking Tobacco Deal OK National Public Radio
- For the details, listen as NPR's Debbie ELLIOT speaks with
Morning Edition host Bob EDWARDS.
- 11/17/98 Tobacco Deal
Miami Herald
- Here are highlights of the agreement between state attorneys general and major tobacco companies announced
Monday.
- 11/17/98 Q&A: Public health
groups laud tobacco settlement Detroit News
- Q: What does the public health community think about this deal? A:
Public health groups are calling it a first step toward a national tobacco control policy at best.
- 11/17/98 PROFILE: JAMES E. TIERNEY: Fighting Smoke With Fire The Washington Post
- For James E.
Tierney, self-appointed field general in America's tobacco wars, yesterday was a moment of victory. . . Tierney, 51, a former Maine attorney
general, gets an evangelical tone as he proclaims that whatever happens in Congress or in state litigation, "one thing that does not change
from place to place is what the tobacco industry did": the industry's attempts to conceal the health consequences of smoking, and the alleged
efforts to recruit new generations of smokers to replace dying customers. "The public will rise up again," Tierney predicts. If that happens,
no small amount of the credit will go to Tierney . . . In the ongoing tobacco wars, Tierney, these days a consultant hired by state attorneys
general, is part strategist, traffic cop, lawyer and spin doctor.
- 11/17/98Tobacco
Industry Dumps Cartoons But Holds On to Jazz Festivals The Wall Street Journal
- But don't expect tobacco ads to
disappear. Magazine advertising isn't targeted in the agreement. Neither is direct marketing. And each of the four largest tobacco companies
involved in the settlement can continue to sponsor one major event each year.
- 11/17/98 To
the Sidelines? Proposal means sporting events could face loss of sponsorship Winston-Salem Journal
- ''THE
MORE advertising restrictions that are imposed, the tougher it becomes to win new ground,'' said Martin Feldman, an analyst with Salomon
Smith Barney in New York. ''Every time a method of advertising is lost, it makes it harder to differentiate the product with the public.'' The ad
restrictions also raise questions for the sporting events that have long relied on Reynolds for sponsorship.
- 11/17/98 WINSTON CUP looks safe under proposed deal AP
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. would
be allowed to continue its title sponsorship of NASCAR's premier racing series under the proposed settlement with state attorneys general.
North Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley said Monday he has been working to make sure wording in the proposed settlement is such
that RJR could continue its role as Winston Cup's title sponsor. ``Everybody gets one brand-name sponsorship, so I have been talking with
officials at RJR to make certain they would be able to keep the Winston Cup series,'' Easley said.
- 11/17/98 Impact
Uncertain On Auto Racing Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Officials at NASCAR said yesterday they had not had time to
review and evaluate the tobacco agreement to understand a provision concerning sports sponsorships by tobacco companies.
- 11/17/98 ME, NH:
Tobacco deal dollars detailed Foster's Democrat
- MAINE stands to get $1.44 billion spread over the next 25 years,
and $61.5 million a year forever thereafter, if the state¹s attorney general agrees to sign a proposed settlement of the state¹s lawsuit against
four cigarette makers. Likewise, NEW HAMPSHIRE would get $1.25 billion and $42.6 million respectively, if that state¹s attorney general signs
on. The annual disbursements after 2025 would be pegged to changes in inflation. However, public health advocates in Maine are already
howling in protest against the proposed settlement. In particular, they oppose the immunity granted the tobacco companies against any future
state lawsuits.
- 11/17/98 MA: AG
urged to snub tobacco deal The Boston Herald
- nti-smoking activists yesterday asked Attorney General Scott
HARSHBARGER to reject the proposed $206 billion settlement with cigarette makers, saying it lets the tobacco companies off easy and may
ultimately encourage smoking. ``The money is spread out over many years,'' said Edward SWEDA, senior attorney for the Tobacco Products
Liability Project. ``There is almost an incestuous arrangement whereby it would be in the state's interest to perpetuate the health of cigarette
sales
- 11/17/98 MA: Clinton endorses $206b tobacco pact The Boston Globe
- In Massachusetts,
Attorney General Scott Harshbarger met with antismoking advocates and came under renewed pressure to reject the deal, which would settle
state claims against tobacco companies for the cost of treating tobacco-related illness. But Harshbarger gave no indication of whether he
would join the settlement or continue with plans to prosecute cigarette makers in state court. . . Yesterday, Harshbarger called public health
and antismoking leaders to his office to brief them on the settlement. The group included state Senators Warrren Tolman of Watertown and
Lois Pines of Newton, both Democrats; former state representative John McDonough, a leading health care advocate; and Richard Daynard,
a Northeastern University law professor; and representatives from the state chapter of the American Cancer Society.
- 11/17/98 NY: NEW YORK CITY mayor
says might reject tobacco pact Reuters
- New York City Mayor Rudolph GIULIANI said Tuesday the city's
approval was needed in the proposed pact between state attorneys general and four tobacco firms, and warned it should not be taken for
granted. ``There are a lot of conceptual questions about how good the deal really is,'' the Republican mayor told City Hall
reporters.
- 11/17/98 NEW YORK CITY may
get big part of NYS tobacco deal Reuters
- Steven Newman, New York City deputy comptroller, said he understood
that the Pataki administration planned to share half of the state's windfall with its localities. ``We would be a significant portion, based on
what percentage of Medicaid they pay,'' he said.
- 11/17/98 NY: Anticipating the Benefits Newsday
- The proposal calls for $24 billion earmarked to the
state through the year 2025. NEW YORK CITY would get the biggest chunk: $6 billion. About $647 million would go to NASSAU COUNTY and
$631.5 million to SUFFOLK over the same period. "It could be better. It could always be better," said Suffolk County Health Commissioner
CLARE BRADLEY. "The problem with holding out is that we risk getting nothing. And the longer we wait the fewer people we can help." A
separate lawsuit filed by the city against the tobacco industry would be settled as part of the deal, according to New York Attorney General
DENNIS VACCO, who added that the city is expected to sign the consent order negotiated by the state attorneys general. But Lorna Goodman, a
spokeswoman for MAYOR RUDOLPH GIULIANI, said the city is waiting to see the final terms of the plan before signing on. "If the benefits turn
out to be as good for the city as they appear to be, we would not challenge it," she said.
- 11/17/98 NY: Tobacco Deal II / States reach pact; Clinton seeks more in Congress Newsday
- Attorney
General Dennis Vacco of New York, one of the negotiators, told reporters that of the $24-billion windfall that would go to New York by
2025 under the deal, Nassau County would get $647 million, Suffolk County $631.5 million and New York City $6 billion.
- 11/17/98 NY: Cig Firms, States in 206B Deal New York Daily News
- The settlement would mean a $24
billion windfall for New York State over the next 25 years. New York City's share of the settlement is estimated at $5.38 billion, officials said
yesterday.
- 11/17/98 NY: New York State Would Receive $25 Billion From Tobacco Deal New York Times
- New York State would get $25 billion over the next 25 years from a proposed settlement of litigation brought by states against the
tobacco industry, Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco said Monday. Of that money, New York City would get more than $6 billion.
- 11/17/98 NY: Spitzer Widens Lead on Vacco in Latest Count New York Times
- Vacco, speaking to
reporters Monday in Washington after a news conference about a multistate settlement with the tobacco industry, said that the figures were
far from complete and that he believed he would ultimately be certified as the victor.
- 11/17/98 MD, DE: In tobacco deal, MARYLAND is leery and DELAWARE is cheery The Baltimore Sun
- Maryland Attorney General Joseph CURRAN says he'll continue to press for a better settlement with the tobacco industry, after
hearing health advocates sharply criticize the proposed deal . . .Meanwhile, Delaware Attorney General Jane BRADY praised the deal,
saying it involves more than just payments to the states. Although she could approve a settlement that would bring her state $775 million,
she is consulting with Gov. Thomas CARPER and legislative leaders before making a decision Thursday or Friday. . .
- 11/17/98 VA:
'An important step' / Deal, hailed by Clinton, could affect thousands of Virginians Richmond Times-Dispatch
- With the $206 billion multistate settlement announced yesterday, the tobacco industry agreed in theory to buy peace on a potentially
costly front -- and made an enticing offer to states such as Virginia that haven't sued. . . If Virginia joins the pact, it could collect $4 billion
from the settlement over 25 years, a revised sum Attorney General Mark L. Earley said was based on a formula for carving up the national
pie.
- 11/17/98 NC:
Phase Two talks may mean more money for N.C. Raleigh News & Observer
- Although it's not a done deal, it's
possible North Carolina could scoop up an extra helping from the historic $206 billion settlement between cigarette makers and state
attorneys general. The state stands to receive $4.6 billion over the next 25 years under the settlement signed Monday afternoon by Attorney
General MIKE EASLEY. But the 250-page agreement also requires cigarette makers to sit down with officials from North Carolina and other
tobacco states within the next 30 days to hash out a separate deal covering tobacco farmers and tobacco allotment holders.
- 11/17/98 NC:
GRAPHIC: Annual payments to North Carolina Raleigh News & Observer
- North Carolina would get a total of
$4.6 billion in the next 25 years. [GRAPH]
- 11/17/98 NC:
N.C. signs tobacco deal Winston-Salem Journal
- N.C. Attorney General MIKE EASLEY signed a landmark
agreement yesterday to place new restrictions on tobacco advertising and bring North Carolina $5 billion over the next 25 years . . . Though
North Carolina never filed its own suit against the industry -- and state law specifically forbids Easley to try to recover the cost of treating
sick smokers as other states have -- Easley was one of eight state attorneys general who entered talks with the industry five months ago after
a broader settlement proposal collapsed in Washington.
- 11/17/98 GA: Georgia to
get $4.6 billion in tobacco settlement Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Georgia would receive $4.6 billion over 25
years from the proposed national tobacco settlement, ninth largest among the states. But Attorney General Thurbert BAKER said Monday he
won't decide whether to agree to the deal until later this week. "There are some good things in this document, things we would not be able to
recover for or address under our pending litigation. But I want to take in as much comment on it as possible and make some decision by the
end of the week," he said.
- 11/17/98 FL: Tobacco deal would expand
Florida pact--official Reuters
- Deputy Attorney General Richard Doran said the settlement would expand
restrictions on cigarette advertising and product placement in movies already included under Florida's landmark August 1997 deal, which
ended a state lawsuit to recover the Medicaid costs of treating sick smokers. ``This allows Florida to take another positive step toward the
eradication of smoking, particularly the eradication of teen smoking,'' Doran said.
- 11/17/98 AL:
Judge: State's kids could turn corner with tobacco money Birmingham News
- "It's so big, so big, so big," said a
breathless Judge Sue Bell COBB of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Judge Cobb has ardently supported the Children First program, which is
at the head of the line for tobacco money. The first $85 million of any settlement must go to Children First, according to a law passed this
year.
- 11/17/98 AL:
Tobacco pact would bring state $3 billion Mobile Register
- A proposed tobacco settlement that would bring
Alabama about $3 billion over 25 years got speedy blessings Monday from Gov.-elect Don SIEGELMAN and Attorney General Bill
PRYOR, but anti-smoking groups and a spokesman for outgoing Gov. Fob JAMES said more time was needed to review it.
- 11/17/98 KY: Kentucky officials, smoking foes wary The Courier-Journal
- State officials and members
of anti-smoking groups yesterday were wary of the proposed settlement between states and the tobacco industry. . . "As I understand the
settlement, they expect us to sign by Friday," PATTON said yesterday. "That's an awfully short fuse. . . . I've told them it would be very
difficult for me to sign until I learn more about the tobacco-farmer part."
- 11/17/98KY: Backers sought for tobacco accord Lexington Herald-Leader
- For Kentucky, the deal
would mean $3.4 billion by the year 2025. Most of that money would go to cover Medicaid spending, but the state would have to decide how
to spend about $992 million. Attorney General BEN CHANDLER and Gov. PAUL PATTON didn't return calls late yesterday. There is not specific
money for tobacco farmers
- 11/17/98 KY, IN: States must decide soon on tobacco The Courier-Journal
- Kentucky would receive
about $3.5 billion over the first 25 years and Indiana would receive nearly $4 billion under the proposed settlement announced yesterday in
Washington. Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton said he was concerned about how Kentucky's nearly 60,000 tobacco farms would fare under the
deal
- 11/17/98 KY: Farmers wait anxiously as state considers tobacco settlement Lexington Herald-Leader
-
"I'd rather raise this tobacco, but I'll have to take what happens, I guess," said Renfro, of Madison County, who raised about 29,000 pounds
of tobacco this year. "It would be a relief if I knew what they were going to do. If they can do it so I can still live, it'll be OK." In the
proposed deal, growers aren't guaranteed any money -- only that the cigarette-makers will meet with tobacco-state political leaders to talk
about their concerns within 30 days of a final deal.
- 11/17/98 PA:
Cancer researchers ask for 25 percent cut Philadelphia Daily News
- Officials of Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center
joined with six other cancer centers from around the state yesterday in asking that 25 percent of Pennsylvania's tobacco settlement be set
aside to support their research into cancer prevention, causes and cures.
- 11/17/98 PA: Scientists eye
slice of tobacco money Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- If a group of scientists has its way, almost $3 billion of the state's
share of a settlement from tobacco companies will be channeled to several cancer research centers around the state. That could add more than
$20 million a year to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's budget.
- 11/17/98 PA: Pa.
would get $11 billion in deal that restricts cigarette marketing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Pennsylvania is signing on
to a proposed legal settlement between states and the tobacco industry that would ban cigarette advertising that is a familiar part of both the
urban landscape and teen-age attire and bring the state as much as $11 billion in payments from tobacco companies by 2025.
- 11/17/98 OH: Feds may "rip
off' tobacco money Cincinnati Post
- Sixty percent of Ohio's $9.9 billion share of a potential settlement with the
tobacco industry could disappear if the federal government seeks to ''rip off'' the states by claiming Medicaid reimbursement, warns Ohio
Senate President Richard Finan.
- 11/17/98 OH: Ohio may reap
$9.9 billion over 25 years Columbus Dispatch
- 11/17/98 OH: Tobacco settlement on
table Akron Beacon Journal
- Under the national settlement, Ohio's seven attorneys would get ``significantly'' less
than the 10 percent outlined in their contract, said Chris Davey, a spokesman for Montgomery. If Ohio had negotiated its own $9.86 billion
settlement, the lawyers would have gotten $986 million.
- 11/17/98 OH: Groups lining up
to spend tobacco money Akron Beacon Journal
- Legislative leaders are warning special interests not to be so quick
to spend the Ohio's share of a $206 billion proposed tobacco settlement. Ohio is in line for $9 billion over 25 years through a deal worked
out over the weekend between eight states and representatives of the tobacco industry, Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery announced
Monday.
- 11/17/98 OH: Tobacco-To-21 Says Tobacco Settlement a Whiff of Victory for Ohio and S.B. 221 PR
Newswire
- "This is a partial victory for Ohioans and anti-tobacco groups, but the battle is far from over," said Dr. Rob Crane,
President of Tobacco-To-21 and member of the O.S.U. Department of Family Medicine. "The settlement helps stop Big Tobacco,"
continued Crane, "and the attorneys general are to be commended in pursuing their battle against tobacco, uncovering industry lies, fraud and
predatory marketing practices.
- 11/17/98 IN: Indiana Must Decide About Deal Reuters
- Indiana Attorney General Jeff
Modisett says he and Governor Frank O'Bannon need a little time to decide on the settlement offer from the tobacco industry.
- 11/17/98 IL: Tobacco Proposal Hailed As `1st Step' Chicago Tribune
- "This provision could turn the
states into opponents of federal efforts to raise the tobacco tax and undermine efforts to pass comprehensive national tobacco-control
legislation," said Matthew Myers, executive vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a group representing public-health
organizations. . . In Illinois, anti-tobacco groups also expressed disappointment with the proposed deal. . . Illinois would receive a total of
$9.1 billion between 1998 and 2025.
- 11/17/98IL: Tobacco deal gives Illinois $9.1 billion St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- A proposed new national
tobacco settlement would require the nation's largest cigarette makers to snuff out Joe Camel, take down its billboards and pay Illinois
taxpayers $9.1 billion - the equivalent of about one-fourth of this year's entire state budget. At the same time, the agreement might get the
state out of a contingency legal contract that would otherwise turn more than $900 million of that money over to private attorneys.
- 11/17/98 WI:
State joins $206 billion tobacco settlement Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Gov. Tommy Thompson and Doyle
said they would drop the state's lawsuit Tuesday to join the settlement. "We think it's going to be good for Wisconsin and it's a good
settlement," Thompson said. "This gives us more money than we'd hoped to recover if we go to trial," Doyle said.
- 11/17/98 WI: State weighs tobacco industry trial or $4 billion settlement AP
- A proposed multi-state agreement to settle lawsuits with the tobacco industry that could net Wisconsin more than $4 billion is worth
considering, Wisconsin' s attorney general says.
- 11/17/98 WI: DOYLE undecided over
response to tobacco deal Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Attorney General Jim DOYLE said Monday that the
proposed tobacco industry settlement offered Wisconsin a record $4 billion and enormous opportunities to stop people from smoking, but
he had yet to decide whether the state should accept the deal.
- 11/17/98 MN: Minnesota may have set the stage for national deal Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Minnesota' s $6.6 billion settlement with Big Tobacco may have set the bar higher for a national settlement, but public health officials
say cigarette makers could still get off too lightly. " The Minnesota case upped the ante tremendously, " said Dr. Stanton Glantz, a medical
professor at the University of California, San Francisco and a nationally known anti-smoking activist. " The bad news is a lot of people have
taken it as an end all, be all, and it is not." " It was a stunning achievement, but it was not the end of the road, " Glantz said, noting that neither
settlement addresses the issue of second-hand smoke.
- 11/17/98 MN: Proposed
tobacco deal draws mixed reaction Pioneer Press
- ``It shows that by holding the industry's feet to the
fire and forcing them into the courtroom, that Attorney General Humphrey was able to recover twice as much for Minnesota taxpayers than
the taxpayers of any other state in the nation will get,'' Johnson said. More important, though, the Minnesota settlement helped set the
standard for what concessions states could get from the tobacco industry, Johnson and Weigum said. ``The reforms we achieved in the
Minnesota settlement, including the ban on marketing to kids and the ban on promotional products, became the benchmarks for this
proposed national settlement,'' said Johnson. ``And finally, in Minnesota, we uncovered the millions of incriminating internal documents that
forced the tobacco industry to agree to these reforms.''
- 11/17/98 IA: Iowa to join
tobacco deal Cedar Rapids (IA) Gasette
- A proposed settlement of lawsuits against the tobacco industry would
bring $1.7 billion to Iowa, and Attorney General TOM MILLER said Monday he is willing to settle the state's suit for that amount.
- 11/17/98 MO: Missouri will weigh benefits of tobacco deal St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Joe Camel
would die, veteran lobbyist John Britton would lose a client and Missouri would collect about $6.7 billion over 25 years under a proposed
settlement of state lawsuits against tobacco companies. Attorney General Jay NIXON, who has until noon Friday to decide what to do with
the deal, said it seemed like a good one. Nixon said he wants to hear opinions from state officials and interested parties before
deciding.
- 11/17/98 ND: AG Speaks On Tobacco Settlement . . . Gov Looks Cautiously At Settlement Reuters
- Attorney General Heidi HEITKAMP . . . says her role in meeting with the media is to represent smaller states who otherwise may
not have been able to take on the tobacco industry. Heitkamp was also included in the delegation working on the litigation for the
settlement. . . Governor Ed Schafer is treating the 206- BILLION-dollar agreement with the tobacco industry with caution.
- South Dakota¹s share would about $650-million dollars over the next 25 years. Attorney General
Mark Barnett says he met with Governor Bill Janklow last week to talk about the deal. Both men have to approve the settlement.
- 11/17/98 TX: States reach
tobacco pact Dallas Morning News
- Texas Attorney General Dan Morales was feeling good Monday about the
state's move to go it alone, his spokesman Ward Tisdale said. By rough calculations, Texas would have gotten about $12 billion under the
new multistate agreement or about $5 billion less, he said.
- 11/17/98 OK:
Tobacco Settlement to Bring State $2 Billion The Oklahoman
- The settlement gives the state more than it asked for
in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry, he said. EDMONDSON, who helped negotiate the agreement, said he would sign "with pride and
with assurance ... that the children of my state and of every state will be safer in the future because of the work of my colleagues ... across the
nation." At a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Edmondson and other attorneys general outlined the 146-
page settlement.
- 11/17/98 CO: Politicians hail
tobacco deal Denver Post
- But the settlement - under which Colorado will receive $2.7 billion - drew a sharp
rebuke from the head of the American Lung Association of Colorado, who described the deal as "protecting the tobacco industry and its
profits and not public health." . . "It appears to be a very good settlement for Colorado, and Gale Norton should be applauded for forging a
very good deal," said Gov.-elect Bill Owens.
- 11/16/98 CO: State snags $2 billion
in tobacco pact Rocky Mountain News
- Colorado will reap a $2 billion windfall over the next 25 years under a
settlement reached last week between 38 states and the tobacco industry. Attorney General Gale Norton -- one of eight attorneys general
who negotiated the largest legal settlement in the nation's history -- said she will ask a federal court to designate the money for treatment of
diseases caused by smoking.
- 11/17/98 NM: UDALL Mulls Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- New Mexico stands to gain more than one-
BILLION dollars over 25 years under a proposed settlement with tobacco companies. Debate has already started over how the state should
spend the money, although Attorney General Tom Udall must still decide whether to accept the settlement
- 11/17/98 MT: MAZUREK Considers Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- State Attorney General Joe Mazurek
says he's looking at the settlement... deciding whether to sign it.
- 11/17/98 WY: Tobacco
settlement pending MSNBC
- Wyoming would net 486-million dollars over 25 years if officials agree to include
Wyoming in the agreement.
- 11/17/98 ID: Lance Debates Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- Idaho Attorney General Alan Lance has
NOT decided if he'll take the deal worked out with the tobacco companies. . . Lance says he wants to make sure that the agreement will
help keep children and young adults away from tobacco. He'll have a decision today or tomorrow.
- 11/17/98 UT: Who'll get tobacco
bucks? Deseret News
- Gov. Mike Leavitt and the Legislature will ultimately decide how to spend the $836 million
that Utah stands to recover in the settlement of its lawsuit against big tobacco. Advocates hope anti-tobacco education and media will be a
priority.
- 11/17/98 NV: Tobacco settlement could mean $1 billion-plus for Nevada Las Vegas Sun
- The Nevada
attorney general's office has received the settlement proposal and is reviewing the document. Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, who is
vacationing in Europe, is expected back by the end of the week to make the decision whether to accept the settlement.
- 11/17/98 AZ: Tobacco deal waits
on states The Arizona Republic
- A giant tobacco settlement, worth nearly $3 billion to Arizona through the year
2025, hangs in limbo as dozens of states ponder whether to opt in or out of it by Friday's deadline.
- 11/17/98 AZ: Tobacco pact
to transform public health for Arizona Arizona Daily Star
- A deal announced yesterday between 11 states and
tobacco companies will forever change public health in Arizona. The pact will give Arizona more than $100 million a year in perpetuity,
money likely to be earmarked for providing care. It also significantly restricts how tobacco products can be marketed.
- 11/17/98 CA: LUNGREN likes deal; health groups don't Capitol Alert (Sacramento, CA)
- Two
major health groups say the tobacco settlement negotiated by Attorney General Dan Lungren is a "second-rate deal for a first-rate state."
And Lungren's Democratic successor, Attorney General-elect Bill LOCKYER, says Lungren shouldn't rush to sign the $206 billion
agreement.
- 11/17/98
CA: Tobacco Deal Gets Differing Reactions Los Angeles Times
- California's cash-hungry cities and counties all
but embraced Monday's tentative settlement of lawsuits against the tobacco industry and the riches it promises, but state lawmakers took a
more cautious approach to the landmark agreement. Atty. Gen. Dan LUNGREN, whose deputies helped negotiate the deal, hailed the
agreement as a "monumental feat," calling it "the best possible settlement for the state of California." . . Lungren said Monday that he intends
to sign on by the Friday deadline, but his successor, Atty. Gen.-elect Bill LOCKYER, called the requirement "absurd," and said the apparent
rush to win approval "could easily undermine public support."
- 11/17/98 CA: Dispute Over States' Settlement On Tobacco San Francisco
Chronicle
- ``What possible justification is there for ramming this deal through?'' said consumer advocate RALPH NADER.
``Is the industry trying to circumvent newly elected, tougher-on-tobacco attorneys general in California, New York and elsewhere?'' Two
of the attorneys general who brokered the deal are lame ducks, and a third will probably lose his job. All are Republicans: LUNGREN,
Gale NORTON of Colorado and Dennis VACCO of New York . . . ``This is a great going-away present Lungren has given the industry,''
[Stanton GLANTZ] said. Lungren is ``proud'' of the pact and ready to sign it. ``We believe this . . . brings the people of California more
than the continued lawsuit would,'' he said.
- 11/17/98 CA:
California backs terms of tobacco settlement San Jose Mercury-News
- California smokers may eventually pay
from 35 cents to 40 cents more for a pack of cigarettes, smoke less and no longer see those ubiquitous cigarette billboards under the historic
$206 billion tobacco settlement announced Monday. But some California anti-smoking advocates were furious with the tentative settlement,
noting it calls for California to receive less than $1 billion a year, while state costs of treating smoking-related illnesses are closer to $1.7
billion a year.
- 11/17/98 CA: VENTURA COUNTY: Tobacco Suit Nets County $233 Million Los Angeles Times
- The settlement money--$9.32 million annually until 2025--legally can be spent in any county department from health care to public
works to social services, said Noel Klebaum, the county's litigation supervisor.
- 11/18/98 OR: MYERS To Make Tobacco Decision Friday Reuters
- State Attorney General Hardy
Myers says he will announce on Friday if Oregon will participate in the multi-BILLION dollar tobacco settlement.
- 11/16/98 HI: Cigarette makers
OK $206 billion settlement Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Officials in the Hawaii attorney general's office could not be
immediately reached for comment today. But last month, Attorney General Margery BRONSTER said she favors the settlement that was then
being negotiated for all the states by the attorneys general for Washington, California, New York, North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma,
North Dakota and Pennsylvania.
- 11/17/98 New
Pack Prices Won't Extinguish Flame Raleigh News & Observer
- "It doesn't matter how much they raise it," said
mortgage banker Michael Stallings, 33, of Zebulon. "If people like to smoke, they're going to pay for them." Stallings called Monday's
landmark $206 billion tobacco settlement "a win-win-lose." "The states get what they want, and the tobacco companies get what they want,"
he said. "Smokers lose."
- 11/16/98 NEW JERSEY Is 13th State to Endorse Tobacco Pact (Update5) Bloomberg News
- The 13 states
that have now endorsed the settlement are: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Washington.
- 11/16/98 CLINTON Urges Congress to Pass Tobacco Bill (Update4) Bloomberg News
- ``Ultimately it is up
to Congress to finish the job,'' Clinton said. ``In the new Congress I am determined all of us will choose progress over partisanship.
Comprehensive tobacco legislation must clarify the jurisdiction of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and appropriate protections
for tobacco farmers.''
- 11/16/98 Tobacco Deal
Brokers Leaving Office AP
- Of the eight attorneys general who negotiated the $206 billion tobacco settlement,
two are leaving office and a third might join them. Republican DAN LUNGREN of California ran for governor and lost; Republican GALE
NORTON of Colorado was prevented by term limits from seeking a third term; and Republican DENNIS VACCO of New York is trailing for
re-election in a slow count of paper ballots from the Nov. 3 election.
- 11/16/98 U.S. Tobacco Companies Open
Talks With Farmers Reuters
- While drafting a $206 billion national tobacco settlement, the nation's largest cigarette
makers quietly began negotiating a separate deal to help tobacco farmers facing withering demand for the leaf, officials said on Monday.
North Carolina Attorney General Michael Easley, who helped craft the settlement, the largest financial recovery in U.S. history, said
officials with the tobacco companies and tobacco- producing states will sit down within 30 days to open formal talks on how to
compensate farmers for reduced tobacco demand.
- 11/21/98 States Approve $206 Billion Deal With Big Tobacco The Washington Post
- "The tobacco
industry knows this [deal] is a winner," said political scientist Christopher Foreman of the Brookings Institution, who has watched the
tobacco saga unfold. "They get a lot of predictability in their future marketing environment . . . they keep the legal process at bay . . . and
they can say to people that they have done something in the interest of the public."
- 11/21/98 Tobacco
a done deal CNN
- "It's a great day for the attorneys general," said Washington State Attorney General Christine
Gregoire in a conference call with reporters. "Joe Camel and his ilk are now in intensive care and will be gone by April. Billboards will be
coming down, and the real truth about tobacco will be available to every American." . . Under the agreement, the companies will fund a $1.5
billion anti-smoking campaign and open previously secret industry documents.
- 11/21/98 46 States Accept $206-Billion Settlement With Cigarette Makers New York Times
- The largest legal and financial threat to the tobacco industry ended Friday when 46 states accepted a $206 billion plan to settle state
lawsuits filed against cigarette makers to recover Medicaid money spent treating diseases related to smoking.
- 11/21/98 Tobacco Suit Settled for $206 Billion/46 states to split cash in deal `too big to fail' San Francisco
Chronicle
- Stanton Glantz, a University of California professor and tobacco industry critic, predicted that the tobacco deal will
come back to haunt the state prosecutors who sign it. ``The industry did a great job of stampeding them,'' he said. ``But they are going to
wake up soon and realize that they are the bride of Frankenstein.''
- 11/21/98 Tobacco Ad Restrictions Leave Loopholes ABC News
- Joe Camel may be history, but the
Marlboro Man is riding tall again. . . But a closer look at the deal reveals those limits are softer than they appear. In an industry already
adept at boosting its product, the ad bans are likely to spark a surge in promotional creativity. . . . Marlboro has aligned itself with such a
quality of imagery with the old West that they dont even need the cigarettes or the logo anymore.
- 11/21/98 U.S. Tobacco Settlement Accord Backed by All States (Update4) Bloomberg News
- 11/21/98
46 states OK tobacco deal Winston-Salem Journal
- Attorney General Christine Gregoire of Washington state,
who led the negotiations for the states, said that the 46 states that had not yet settled with the tobacco industry, as well as five U.S.
territories, now are included.
- 11/21/98 Tobacco Pact Wins Approval Lexington Herald-Leader
- 11/21/98 46
States Hail $206 Billion Tobacco Pact; Critics Deplore It Raleigh News & Observer
- 11/21/98 State Tobacco Plan Is New Challenge To Congress Reuters
- ``The very nature of
this agreement will make it easy to understand the need to do more,'' Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said, referring
to the tentative agreement between most of the states and major cigarette makers. ``It doesn't in any way address the need for a federal
agency to oversee this industry, it leaves huge avenues open to the industry to continue to market to children and it doesn't make it more
difficult for children to obtain tobacco products illegally,'' he added.
- 11/21/98 States Unanimously OK Tobacco Deal AP
- 11/21/98 Key Provisions Of Tobacco Settlement Lexington Herald-Leader
- 11/21/98 Old settlement: Comparing The Deals Miami Herald
- Some of the differences between the just-approved tobacco
settlement and a broader 1997 agreement that failed
- 11/20/98 1998, 1997 Tobacco Deal Highlights AP
- 11/21/98 Payouts to the states
under settlement with tobacco industry Deseret News
- The breakdown comes to less than the $206 billion
price tag for the entire settlement because some of the money has not yet been allocated to the states and other funds are earmarked for
other uses, such as public education programs.
- 11/20/98Chronology of How Settlement Came Together Bloomberg News
- 11/21/98 ME: MAINE jumps on settlement train Bangor Daily News
- The agreement provides a lot
of money - more than a billion dollars in the next 25 years, the largest court judgment in the history of Maine - but not so much in the
way of smoking prevention concessions from the tobacco industry.
- 11/21/98 MA: Survey shows case wasn't airtight The Boston Globe
- One of the strongest
arguments that Attorney General Scott Harshbarger heard for sticking with his lawsuit and forsaking a deal with the tobacco industry was
that a pool of Middlesex County jurors would be overwhelmingly sympathetic to his cause. But a confidential survey of 312 potential
jurors cast some serious doubts that a panel from the generally upscale county would be ready to force the tobacco companies to cough up
billions of dollars to the state.
- 11/21/98 CT: Tobacco Suit
Settlement Endorsed Hartford Courant
- ``Time is not on our side in the war against Big Tobacco,'' Blumenthal
said Friday morning during a press conference announcing his decision to join with more than 40 states in adopting the proposed
settlement. ``Every day in Connecticut, 60 children begin smoking. Continuing this litigation over the next five years or more would have
meant thousands of lives lost.''
- 11/21/98 NY: Chuck: Use Money
For Property-tax Relief New York Post
- "This would be a 10 percent property-tax reduction for the average
homeowner in New York," Schumer said in a taping of WCBS-TV's "Sunday Edition," which will air tomorrow. "I'm already speaking to
state legislative leaders about getting this done and then doing it at the federal level if and when there's a federal settlement," he said.
- 11/21/98 NY: 46 States OK $206B Offer by Cig Firms New York Daily News
- "It is the
most effective and far-reaching settlement that could be obtained," Attorney General Dennis VACCO said yesterday after adding New
York to the list.
- 11/21/98 DE: CARPER says
DELAWARE had little choice but to join tobacco deal Delaware State News
- Delaware signed on to a national
tobacco settlement Friday which could bring the state as much as $775 million - but which officials cautioned actually could be worth a
great deal less.
- 11/21/98 MD: Md. to join tobacco settlement The Baltimore Sun
- Flanked by Gov. Parris N.
Glendening and Baltimore attorney Peter G. Angelos, whose law firm is likely to collect several hundred million dollars for handling the
state's lawsuit, Curran said he had tried but failed to persuade several other states to hold out for a better deal. "We concluded that if
Maryland held out, we'd have no other ally," he said.
- 11/21/98 MD, VA: In the End, Md., Va. Find Deal Too Good To Pass Up The Washington Post
- Maryland had seriously considered rejecting the deal because it felt that it had a strong case against the nation's tobacco companies
and was concerned that the settlement did not go far enough in addressing public health concerns. Virginia officials also had expressed
reservations about what the settlement might do to the state's large tobacco industry. In the end, leaders in both states found the deal --
approved by District leaders Thursday -- too good to pass up.
- 11/21/98 VA:
Virginia joins tobacco pact / Could receive up to $4 billion over 25 years Richmond Times-Dispatch
- "This
agreement begins to lift the cloud of uncertainty which for too long has hung over the heads of hard-working Virginians whose tobacco
farms and jobs have been threatened by heavy-handed government litigation," Earley said. But to recover the money, tobacco-rich Virginia
will have to file its own suit against Philip Morris Cos. Inc., whose tobacco operations in Richmond and in Chesterfield and York counties
make it one of the state's largest and most lucrative private employers.
- 11/21/98 NC: N.C.
growers to get $2.5 billion Greensboro News & Record
- North Carolina tobacco growers and allotment
holders will collect up to $2.2 billion over 10 years under a deal with cigarette makers aimed at offsetting anticipated drops in cigarette
consumption and demand for golden leaf, Attorney General Mike Easley said Friday.
- 11/21/98 N.C.
Growers Stand To Get $2 Billion Raleigh News & Observer
- North Carolina could get up to $2 billion in
payments from cigarette makers over the next 10 years to help farmers and others who are hurt financially by the landmark tobacco
settlement this week. That money would be over and above the $4.6 billion the state is expected to receive from cigarette makers over 25
years under the first part of the historic agreement disclosed Monday.
- 11/21/98 Farmers: Deal Includes Cash, Less Of It, For Growers Winston-Salem Journal
- And at least
40 percent of that money, or $2 billion, would go to North Carolina. . . As a concession to North Carolina, Kentucky and other states
where farmers depend on tobacco crops for income, industry officials also agreed to meet with political leaders from those states within 30
days to come up with a plan to help tobacco farmers as consumption and demand decline. Carlton said that in their preliminary discussions,
the companies project that they would pay a total of about $5 billion into trust funds or foundations in North Carolina and the other
tobacco-growing states.
- 11/21/98 GA: Georgia agrees to tobacco settlement Savannah Morning News
- "Quite
frankly, there are many things that this agreement accomplishes, particularly in the public health arena, that we could not achieve through
our lawsuit in Georgia," BAKER noted. But he added, "This is just a start. It does not address every conceivable problem, and there
remains much work to be done."
- 11/21/98
GA: Settlement has officials salivating Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Gov.-elect Roy BARNES wants to put the
money in a new state health care trust fund. But House Minority Leader Bob IRVIN (R-Atlanta) wants to use it to cut taxes, and other
lobbyists and legislative leaders are expected to lay claim to portions of the settlement pie for their own pet projects when the General
Assembly convenes in January.
- 11/21/98 KY: Tobacco plan would give Ky. growers $1.6 billion Lexington Herald-Leader
- Growers will
get to split $5 billion from the tobacco companies to cover losses from the overall national settlement, North Carolina Attorney General
Mike EASLEY announced yesterday. Kentucky's portion, based on the state's share of the tobacco market, would be about $1.6 billion
over 10 years, said Danny McKinney, CEO of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative. Gov. Paul PATTON had said this week that he is
asking for $2.2 billion for Kentucky's growers.
- 11/21/98
OH: Activists seek delay in deal with tobacco Cincinnati Enquirer
- "This is an artificial deadline," Ahron
Leichtman, executive director of Citizens for a Tobacco-free Society, said of Friday's deadline for state approvals. "Who's to say that the
tobacco industry wouldn't accept a signed document next week?" Mr. Leichtman said his group was filing papers in Franklin County
Common Pleas Court in Columbus asking permission to intervene in Ohio's lawsuit against the tobacco industry.
- 11/21/98 OH:
Anti-smoking activists unhappy with state OK of tobacco settlement Akron Beacon Journal
- The settlement
would not necessarily prevent Ohio cities with home-rule authority, including Cincinnati, from suing the tobacco industry, Davey said.
Through the settlement, Ohio would receive $9.9 billion over the next 25 years, instead of going to court to recoup hundreds of millions of
dollars spent on sick smokers, Ms. Montgomery said. Only California, New York and Pennsylvania would get more, she said.
- 11/21/98 IL: Illinois, 45
other states OK tobacco deal Chicago Sun-Times
- `This settlement allows us to recover the billions of dollars
taxpayers paid to treat tobacco-related illnesses and gives us the opportunity to channel billions more toward programs to benefit
children and public health,'' Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan said.
- 11/21/98 MO: Lawmaker: No tobacco funds for lawyers St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Money
from Missouri's $6.7 billion settlement with tobacco companies should go to the state treasury, not to the private lawyers Attorney General
Jay Nixon hired to pursue the case, a state senator said Friday. Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said he will continue his suit to void
the agreement between the attorney general and the lawyers he hired.
- 11/21/98 MO: State signs on to national tobacco deal Indianapolis News
- Calling it a great chance to
"enhance the lives of children," Gov. Frank O'Bannon signed the $206 billion national tobacco settlement today. A document signed by
Indiana Attorney General Jeff Modisett was faxed to national negotiators shortly before the noon deadline, O'Bannon said at a news
conference in his office.
- 11/21/98
KS: KANSAS accepts tobacco money Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- "Because of the certainty of
the agreement -- as opposed to the uncertainty of trial -- and because of the positive impact the terms of the agreement can have upon
youth smoking in Kansas -- not to mention our general fund -- I have notified my colleagues that I will accept this settlement,"
STOVALL said during a news conference in the Kansas Judicial Center.
- 11/20/98 KS: With BC-KS--Kansas-Tobacco-Glance St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Kansas could start
receiving payments within a few months on its $1.5 billion share of a $206 billion national settlement with Big Tobacco, Attorney
General Carla Stovall said Friday. Stovall had barely announced her decision to accept on behalf of the state terms of the settlement with
four major tobacco companies when health groups began challenging the state to spend the bulk of its money to keep children from
smoking.
- 11/21/98 CO: Deal to net
state about $2.7 billion Denver Post
- Next week, state Attorney General Gale Norton will seek a consent decree in
Denver District Court to validate the settlement.
- 11/21/98 UT: Graham hails
'win' for states Deseret News
- Utah Attorney General Jan Graham on Friday heralded a $206 billion
settlement between 46 states and big tobacco as "a monumental win for each and every state." Utah stands to recover $836 million 6
1/2 times what it sued four major tobacco companies for in 1996.
- 11/21/98 NM: UDALL
Signs Tobacco Settlement Albuquerque Journal
- Attorney General Tom Udall signed a tobacco lawsuit
settlement Friday worth $1.16 billion to New Mexico over 25 years. . . House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, said
lawmakers should establish the fund to provide investment yields over the long term for public health and education in New Mexico.
- 11/21/98 NV: DEL PAPA signs state into tobacco Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Rather than face the
uncertain outcome of a court fight, Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa on Friday signed on to an agreement with the tobacco
industry that will bring at least $1.2 billion to the state during the next 27 years. . . "There is no doubt in my mind that this is a good deal
for the state of Nevada, and in the long term, is in the best interest of Nevadans," Del Papa said. "This is a tremendous first step in our
battle to prevent the tobacco companies from targeting our most valuable and most vulnerable population, our youth."
- 11/21/98 AZ: Arizona
tobacco windfall The Arizona Republic
- Arizona's share comes to at least $110 million a year between now and
2025. The state would receive nearly $118 million after 2025 from cigarette makers -- in perpetuity.
- 11/21/98 AZ:
MARICOPA: County demands share The Arizona Republic
- Attorney General Grant Woods had just started to
celebrate Arizona's tobacco settlement Friday when Maricopa County made a grab for millions of dollars. If Woods and Gov. Jane Hull do
not pay the county up-front for tobacco-related costs of health care for the poor, the county will sue, Jan Brewer, chairwoman of the Board
of Supervisors, said in a letter.
- 11/21/98 WA: GREGOIRE wants tobacco money spent on public health AP
- Washington
state's proceeds from the tobacco industry settlement should be spent on public health issues or the integrity of the historic agreement will
be violated, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said.
- 11/21/98
Deal On Lawsuits Fires Up Tobacco Winston-Salem Journal
- The tobacco industry's settlement of health-related
lawsuits with all states is expected to spur a series of big corporate moves that could fundamentally change the U.S. tobacco industry. . .
Taken together, the moves will allow [BROOKE's] cigarette unit to eliminate all of its $145 million in debt and should increase its cash
flow by almost $100 million a year. The moves put the company, once saddled with debt and falling cigarette sales, in its best financial
shape in years.
- 11/21/98 Tobacco Settlement Eases Only One Of Industry's Problems Minneapolis Star Tribune
- The companies face individual and class-action lawsuits by smokers and their families. The Justice Department is reportedly
conducting a criminal investigation into whether the industry misled Congress about tobacco's dangers. Cigarette prices are expected to rise
35 cents to 40 cents a pack to pay for the settlement. And tobacco companies also face the prospect of renewed efforts in Congress to
tighten the reins on tobacco, including putting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in charge of regulating tobacco products as a
drug.
- 11/21/98 Cigarette Companies Seen Making Big Changes: Tobacco Settlement Bloomberg News
- The
tobacco industry's settlement of health-related lawsuits with all states is expected to spur a series of big corporate moves that could
fundamentally change the U.S. tobacco industry.
- 11/21/98 BROOKE Sells 3 Brands to PHILIP MORRIS, Joins Accord (Update1) Bloomberg News
- 11/20/98
PHILIP MORRIS to Buy Brands From LIGGETT for $300 Million The Wall Street Journal
- Philip Morris
Cos. agreed to acquire the L&M, CHESTERFIELD and LARK cigarette brands from Brooke Group Ltd. for $300 million. . . Brooke
Group said it expects an initial $150-million payment to be made within 10 days as an option fee, with the balance to be paid upon exercise
of the options by Philip Morris, which already owns international rights to the brands. Brooke Group, based in Miami, said it will use the
initial payment pay down debt. . . neither Liggett nor [Brooke] will have payment obligations to the signing states as long as Liggett fails to
exceed a 1.67% national market share.
- 11/20/98 States
Give Unanimous Support To $206 Billion Tobacco Deal The Wall Street Journal
- Critics also have complained
about a provision that would allow companies to subtract from payments to states amounts received from any new federal cigarette tax
revenues earmarked for state public-health initiatives. "The essential and central dilemma for many states is whether this deal provides as
much or more effective public-health protection than we could obtain through litigation," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal.
- 11/20/98 Gary Black: Comments on Philip Morris Estimate Guidance -- Price Elasticity Remains Key Tobacco BBS
- We believe that PHILIP MORRIS' guidance offered to some analysts of 10-12% volume declines in 1999, and corresponding estimate cuts of 7-8% is greatly exaggerated. The timing of the guidance may be to convey the message that this deal will cause considerable pain . . . Liggett's rejection of the new deal will not cause the accord to blow apart. . . LEBOW probably wants to remain a thorn in the industry's side and keep uncertainty high about Liggett price cutting to prompt a payoff to LIGGETT to join this deal. This, of course, would allow Liggett to retire its $150 million debt maturing in February -- allowing Liggett to survive.
- 11/21/98 MA: Harshbarger joins tobacco settlement The Boston Globe
- Attorney General
Scott Harshbarger yesterday announced that Massachusetts will drop its lawsuit against the tobacco industry and join the $206 billion
national settlement, saying it was a ''gut-wrenching'' decision. The move, which has far-reaching implications for the state's anti-smoking
efforts, means Massachusetts will get $4 billion from the industry over the next 25 years, or $7.6 billion when the expected rate of inflation
is factored in.
- 11/20/98 States Face
Choices With Tobacco Money USA Today
- Decisions on how to spend the money will rest with state legislatures.
But already, states' priorities are becoming clear. Because the funds are intended to compensate for the costs of treating sick smokers, most
officials want to improve public health-care systems.
- 11/20/98 States Face Tobacco Deal Deadline AP
- Twenty-nine of the 46 eligible states had embraced the package by late Thursday, only hours before today's midday deadline for accepting the proposal for resolving remaining state claims for the costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses. All eyes were on Massachusetts and Maryland, two states considered to have strong cases and still undecided going into the final hours.
- 11/19/98 28 States Now Backing Tobacco Deal AP
- Michigan, considered one of the crucial states for acceptance of the agreement, was among 10 states announcing Thursday plans to sign the deal designed to resolve state claims for the costs for treating sick smokers.
- 11/20/98 Majority of States Are Backing Proposed Tobacco Settlement The Wall Street Journal (pay registration)
- A majority of states with suits pending against the tobacco industry over health costs related to smoking agreed to sign a $206 billion settlement proposal, with remaining states expected to sign Friday before a noon EST deadline. Twenty-seven states, including several that had insisted on stronger public-health provisions, had signed on to the proposed accord by late Thursday. They, along with the eight states that negotiated the agreement, brought to at least 35 the number of states now favoring the deal that was announced on Monday.
- 11/20/98 NY: SPITZER Declares Victory, but Republicans Question Count New York Times
- Spitzer made it clear that he had already turned his attention to the operation of the office, discussing a wide range of topics, from his opposition to the recent agreement between the state and the tobacco industry to . . .
- 11/20/98 D.C. to Sign Proposed Tobacco Deal Washington Post
- The District decided yesterday to join in the proposed $206 billion multi-state tobacco settlement, which could generate about $1.2 billion for the city over 25 years. Meanwhile, MARYLAND officials still were struggling with the decision of whether to sign on to the controversial settlement
- 11/20/98 NC:
Packing It In Winston-Salem Journal
- The ''tobacco situation'' was on the minds of nearly everyone at the farm show
this week as the deadline loomed today for states to accept a $206 billion settlement offered by cigarette-makers. . . There have long been
rumblings among farmers about government regulations and the high cost of producing the crop. But in the wake of settlements, increased
cigarette taxes and government reductions in the amount of tobacco that farmers can grow, a decision such as Phillips' is becoming more
common.
- 11/20/98 KY: State takes $3.4B tobacco
settlement Kentucky Post
- Chandler, who signed the agreement Thursday, said that while tobacco manufacturers have a
dismal record in dealing with growers in the past, he believes the settlement offers the best chance of winning concessions for farmers. ''You
could almost consider this an insurance policy,'' he said.
- 11/20/98 KY: State signs on, but tobacco settlement still might falter Lexington (KY) Herald Leader
- Despite Attorney General BEN CHANDLER's announcement yesterday that he had signed on to the settlement plan, the nation's big tobacco companies can still back out today. The companies have served notice that they want a significant number of the 46 states that are eligible to join the settlement to sign on, but they have not indicated what the magic number is.
- 11/20/98 KY: Relief for growers: How much? How to use it? Lexington (KY) Herald Leader
- An attorney for Big Tobacco has told U.S. growers that a proposed relief fund for them -- perhaps $5 billion over 10 years -- won't be like winning a lottery. . . Most details remain to be worked out, but the debate has already become this: Should growers get the money to spend as they wish? Or should Kentucky get the money to help build new rural economies?
- 11/19/98 Poll: Money from Tobacco Settlement Should be Used to Reduce Tobacco Use Among Children US Newswire
- An overwhelming majority of the American public believes that funds the states receive from any settlement between the state attorneys general and the tobacco industry should be used to reduce tobacco use among children, according to results of a national telephone poll released today by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. . . The poll was commissioned by the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS and conducted by MARKET FACTS' TELENATION.
- 11/19/98 Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Issues Memo on Tobacco Industry Subversion of State Tobacco Control Efforts US Newswire
- Regardless of what the states may allocate for tobacco control, the tobacco industry is certain to continue its practices of making sure that as few settlement funds as possible are earmarked for this purpose, and of undermining any new state tobacco control programs that are paid for by such funds. This has happened in California, Massachusetts, and other states, and it is likely to happen here as well despite the fact that the agreement prohibits the tobacco companies from seeking to divert use of the funds.
- 11/19/98 The States Spring A Surprise The Economist
- The tobacco issue is in one way a typical
illustration of the vigour of state governments, but in another sense it is exceptional. It is typical in that the reason that states seized the
initiative lay in the same forces that often play to their advantage: Washingtons activist-reformists and industry-lobbyists fought each
other to a stalemate, leaving the field to relatively streamlined state governments. It is exceptional, however, in that bashing tobacco is not a
Republican issue. For a long time now, states rights have been a favourite cause of conservatives, not liberals.
- 11/19/98 Letter from C. Everett Koop, MD to Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran, Jr. Tobacco BBS
- Finally, the settlement sends a signal to Congress that you accept the industry's group settlement as acceptable punishment, thereby stunting further federal legislation. And the more states that accept the settlement, the stronger that signal will be. I know that you truly care about what is best for Maryland, and I know that this settlement might be "quick" but it is no "fix".
- 11/19/98 PA:
Pennsylvania Health Advocates File Court Petition to Block Tobacco Settlement PR Newswire
- Three members
of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Pennsylvania filed a petition to intervene yesterday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in
order to block a proposed settlement of Pennsylvania's lawsuit against the four largest tobacco companies. The petition alleges that the
proposed settlement announced on November 16th would abridge the rights of local governments and taxpayers in Pennsylvania to seek
legal redress against the tobacco industry for past misconduct and seeks an injunction pending a hearing on the settlement. A hearing on
the petition is expected to be held on November 25th. Petition to Intervene in Pa. Lawsuit Against Tobacco
Companies
- 11/19/98 AG DEAL: ASH Sues, Please Act
NOW! Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
- Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has filed a brief amicus
curiae (friend of the court) asking the courts in the ten (10) most populous states in which state tobacco suits are pending to delay the signing
of the deal by their attorney general, to establish a period for careful study and review of no less than thirty (30) days, and to then hold an
open hearing to permit their airing of the views of various organizations with experience and expertise in the area to express their views,
including reservations if any. YOU CAN AND SHOULD HELP IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS
- 11/23/98 Group of 46 States Agree to Accept $206 Billion Tobacco Settlement The Wall Street Journal
- For the industry,
the deal eliminates the most pressing legal threat confronting it: unpredictable damage awards in state suits to recover billions in
health-care outlays allegedly attributable to smoking. It also commits the companies to far less in public-health concessions than a more
ambitious $368.5 billion settlement proposal that failed to win congressional approval. Tobacco stocks have been climbing in anticipation
of the deal. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday, shares of Philip Morris Cos. rose 37.5 cents to close at $55.75.
- 11/21/98 Heavy backing from US for tobacco deal Financial Times
- After all the legal documents have been signed over the next few days,
the settlement will take effect immediately. . . One remaining obstacle is the vigorous opposition of the public health community, which
regards the settlement as a sell-out to the tobacco industry and is fighting to block it. . . . "The battle is not over," said John Banzhaf,
Ash's executive director. "We have pending in the 10 most populous states a challenge asking judges to hold up the settlement and to
order a 30-day review period in which it can be studied, followed by a hearing at which views can be aired."
- 11/23/98 2 Who Forged
Tobacco Accord Raleigh News & Observer
- Suddenly, one of the lawyers representing the cigarette makers slid a
yellow legal pad across the table, near where Easley was standing. "Don't worry Mike," a note scribbled on the pad read. "It gets easier after
the first six weeks." Easley looked across the table at the note writer and laughed. "Thanks, I needed that," he told Pinetops lawyer and fellow
Tar Heel Democrat Phil Carlton, the lead negotiator for the four huge cigarette makers.
- 11/23/98 The Wall Street Journal's MILO GEYELIN on the tobacco settlement NewsEdge
- ABSTRACT: Geyelin says how the money will be distributed will be a sticking point among states when the tobacco settlement is
finalized. He says with the state settlement in hand, the White House will push for tobacco regulation. Geyelin believes the White House
wants to add a new tax on cigarettes.
- 11/22/98
Industry foes fume over the tobacco deal U.S. News & World Report
- Yet it was the study of college-student
smokers that mocked the celebration over the tobacco settlement. Harvard School of Public Health researchers, publishing in the
Journal of the American Medical Association, reported smoking jumped 28 percent among college students between 1993 and 1997.
The authors blamed cigarette marketing. But researchers know that even in California, a state considered a model for its aggressive
antismoking advertising and school programs, teen smoking is peaking again. Peer pressure seems to trump even the best-thought-out
antismoking strategies. And that's something that no tobacco deal can touch.
- 11/22/98 MD: Md. to Get $4 Billion in Tobacco Deal The Washington Post
- Under last week's
settlement, Maryland will receive about $4 billion over the next 25 years, with a portion going to tobacco farmers, as state lawmakers
directed in legislation adopted during last spring's General Assembly session. "The language in the bill is very general," said state Sen.
Thomas McLain Middleton (D-Charles), a tobacco farmer who helped craft and pass the action. "It's designed to provide a safety net
for Southern Maryland farmers."
- 11/22/98 MD: Deal Could Fog Md. War On Smoking The Washington Post
- Glendening
and dozens of state lawmakers are lobbying to boost the state's cigarette tax by $1.50 a pack during the legislative session that
begins in January. And they want new laws limiting children's access to tobacco displays and vending machines. But the higher tax
and other initiatives could become a harder sell in light of Maryland's decision to accept a settlement that could provide the state with
$4.2 billion over 25 years, lawmakers say.
- 11/22/98 NY: BROOME COUNTY: Officials, others differ on spending tobacco windfall Binghamton Press
& Sun Bulletin
- In Broome County's case, the number is $105 million. . . . Over half of the more than 20 readers - including
elected officials in small towns and villages like Barker, Colesville, Johnson City, Fenton and Dickinson - who called, faxed and e-mailed
the Press & Sun Bulletin this week said they want at least half the money to go back to their town or village. Most said it should be
distributed based on how many people live in each town, just as sales tax revenue is. They suggested a variety of uses for it, from fixing
streets to putting in a new sewer system.
- 11/23/98 VA: Virginia to
receive $4 billion from tobacco deal The Journal Newspapers [Northern Virginia]
- The massive pact will keep
cigarettes away from children while stabilizing the tobacco industry and helping farmers, Attorney General Mark L. Earley, who negotiated
Virginia's stake in the deal, said Friday. ``It's our hope progress will be made in the fight to curb teen smoking, and that the tobacco
markets, which are the lifeblood of so many farmers and workers, will become more stable,'' Earley said.
- 11/22/98 KY:
Ky. enters new tobacco era Cincinnati Enquirer
- Tobacco sales start in Kentucky on Monday in places like
the King Burley Warehouse near Maysville. But tobacco no longer is paid a king's homage, even in the Bluegrass state where it's the
top cash crop. This year's sales may mean more in light of last week's $206 billion settlement with cigarette makers that is expected to
reduce demand, said Scott Pope, an owner of King Burley.
- 11/22/98 KY: Settlement money likely to go fast Lexington Herald-Leader
- At first glance, $40
million a year from Big Tobacco might seem like quite a windfall for the commonwealth. But the two groups that stand to benefit from
the money -- public health groups and tobacco growers -- have plenty of ideas on how to spend Kentucky's proceeds from the national
tobacco settlement. And the total cost of those ideas probably adds up to more than what's available.
- 11/23/98 TN: Tobacco deal
gives growers direction The Journal Newspapers [Northern Virginia]
- While some in the tobacco industry fear
the settlement could lead to a decline in tobacco use, Charlie Finch of Burley Stabilization Corp. in Knoxville, Tenn. is more hopeful. He
said it could help farmers because it removes a huge cloud of uncertainty that has hung over the industry. ``It gives the companies more of
a guideline of where they can go now. I feel real good about it,'' said Finch, whose organization oversees the price support program for
burley.
- 11/23/98 AL: Tobacco settlement gives Legislature its favorite fix AP
- Provided all goes as
planned, Louisiana will come into $4.4 billion over the next 25 years . . . The cash to the state is just that: unrestricted money that will be
deposited into the general fund, where the cash can be appropriated for anything -- wisely or not. Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, the
chief legal officer in a state where high rates of smoking and cancer run hand-in-hand, said last week that it's important that the money
be earmarked for medical research, education and other areas to fight tobacco-related illnesses. Ieyoub was the first to admit that there's
no guarantee what will happen with the money once the Legislature gets its hands on it.
- 11/22/98 OH: Activists Seek Delay In Deal With Tobacco Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer
- Ohio and nine other populous states could be giving away too much by signing onto a $206 billion settlement with the tobacco industry and should wait a month to learn the details, anti-smoking activists said Friday. But Ohio and other states that had committed to the settlement by the tobacco industry-imposed deadline Friday showed no inclination to reconsider.
- 11/22/98 OH: States Flex New Legal
Muscles Akron Beacon Journal
- Montgomery said Friday that the settlement opens the door for attorneys
general to be stronger consumer advocates. ``If we can get this done, it clearly underscores the power of a consumer advocate working
through the court system, and collectively, to get something done that might not otherwise be able to be done in another form, i.e., in a
legislative forum.''
- 11/23/98 KS: How
will state slice tobacco settlement pie? Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- The 1998 Legislature passed a law
creating the Children's Health Care Program, requiring that 50 percent of any proceeds received from a tobacco settlement go into that
fund. The law specifies that the fund can be used only to provide additional money for children's health care, services for children and
tobacco-prevention and smoking-cessation programs. After Stovall's news conference Friday, public health advocates said they intend to
hold the state's feet to the fire in complying with that law.
- 11/23/98 OK: EDMONDSON Recounts Tobacco Negotiations St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Tobacco
giants adamantly resisted strong restraints on their marketing methods and having to fund more than $1 billion in ads opposing the use
of tobacco, state Attorney General Drew Edmondson said.
- 11/22/98 WI:
State full of ideas to spend share of tobacco settlement Pioneer Press
- More tax cuts? Better land use?
Changes in campaign finance laws? Some think the money could help any of those causes. But one government finance watchdog,
Todd Berry of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said those ideas should stay as pipe dreams for the moment. ``It's not in the hands of
the state yet. There's all sorts of legal questions,'' Berry said Friday. ``I'll believe it when I see it.''
- 11/23/98 AZ: Lawyers
may get $150 million from Ariz. tobacco settlement Arizona Daily Star
- Lawyers handling Arizona's portion of
the pending settlement with tobacco companies could get as much as $150 million for their two years of labor. That's only a fraction of
what they were entitled to under the original contract. That pact called for the private attorneys to get 18 percent of the $2.9 billion the state
stands to take in over 25 years. That amounts to more than $500 million. Van O'Steen, head of one of three firms representing the state,
agreed that the amount is obscene because there was no trial.
- 11/22/98 CA: Dispute Brewing Over Private Attorneys' Fees in Tobacco Lawsuits Los Angeles
Times
- San Diego attorney William LERACH, at the center of the dispute, is accusing Atty. Gen. Dan LUNGREN of trying
to block him from getting fully compensated. In 1992, Lerach's law firm filed the first in the series of major lawsuits now pending
against the tobacco industry. But the final settlement agreement is written in a way that guarantees no payment for his firm's work in
that case. The omission, he said, means he may have to level a claim against the state to recover payment, rather than tap into a
multibillion-dollar pot of money to be created by the tobacco industry to pay private lawyers who helped sue the industry
- 11/21/98ohCA: State may lose on tobacco pact San Francisco Examiner
- State Senate
President pro tem John Burton of San Francisco is working to delay the massive settlement reached between California, The City and
the tobacco industry, saying the public and several prominent attorneys are getting shortchanged.
- 11/21/98 CA: Dispute Flares Over L.A.'s Use of Tobacco Funds Los Angeles Times
- Mayor Richard Riordan wants to use the windfall to repair city sidewalks, which could get more use when the aggregate civic lung
capacity increases as smoking declines. Others, such as City Atty. James K. Hahn, insist that the money should be used only for
smoking prevention programs and to enforce tobacco control laws. Appearing before the City Council on Friday . . . Hahn sternly
warned lawmakers against using the money for anything but anti-smoking programs, particularly those aimed at young children and
teenagers. "We should do everything we can to make sure the money doesn't disappear into the general fund," Hahn said. "If we get
sidetracked into thinking, 'Oh great, we have a windfall here . . .' that would really defeat the purpose."
- 11/07/98CA: EDITORIAL: Beware tobacco deal: LUNGREN should let new AG examine tobacco lawsuit Sacramento Bee
- That's not enough. More than sunshine is needed in this case. Lame-duck Lungren ought not to sign off on a tobacco deal that would have far-reaching consequences for the public just two months before he leaves office. He especially shouldn't sign off on a deal that his past actions suggest he has been less than enthusiastic about pursuing in the first place.
- 11/19/98 CA: LUNGREN leaves LERACH out of his tobacco deal San Diego Union-Tribune
- Attorney General Dan Lungren has made it more difficult for law firms representing two political rivals to collect fees on tobacco
cases, which may force them to seek payment from taxpayers, rather than the tobacco industry. San Diego attorney Bill Lerach charged that
Lungren's move is an act of political revenge that could force the state to pay millions of dollars to lawyers that would otherwise be
contributed by the tobacco industry. "It appears that Lungren gave his friends in the tobacco industry a gift before he left office," said
Lerach.
- 11/19/98 EDITORIAL: When lawsuits make policy The Economist
- For years tobacco companies, like
gun-makers, have defeated nearly all suits brought against them by private plaintiffs because juries took the reasonable view that the risks of
cigarettes and guns were well known. . . Far from standing up for voters against powerful entrenched interests, Americas mayors and state
attorneys-generaland the anti-tobacco and anti-gun campaigners egging them on--are themselves ramming down the throats of voters
policies which they have not endorsed. If America is ever to get its priorities right on tobacco, guns or any other issue, it will do so only in
the debating chamber of democratically elected legislatures, not through threats of mass litigation.
- 11/18/98 EDITORIAL: No deal Philadelphia Inquirer
- "This is what happens when you have failure of federal leadership," noted
David Kessler, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. "There is very little here for public health. There are more tobacco industry
loopholes than you can imagine. States as a group should not take this deal. States willing to stand up and fight should do that. "But the good
thing is that this deal sets the stage, and makes it imperative for Congress to act." Exactly.
- 11/19/98 EDITORIAL: Tobacco Deal - a Start Christian Science Monitor
- For all its shortcomings, however, this new agreement
is a step worth taking. The tobacco companies are being forced to shoulder a significant share of the burden their products have placed on
society. In return, they get out from under a major legal threat - states' lawsuits to recover tobacco-related Medicaid payments. But the companies
still face individual and class-action suits. . . Continued pressure on all fronts can break the hold of tobacco on individual lives, and on political
decisionmaking.
- 11/18/98 EDITORIAL: A flawed deal * Tobacco pact will do little to deter teen smoking San Diego
Union-Tribune
- a central aim of the tobacco litigation by the state attorneys general -- detering teen smoking -- will get only a
pittance of the mammoth $206 billion to be paid to states over 25 years. In fact, the two major provisions of the deal designed to
discourage under-age smoking are slated to receive only about 1 percent of the total proceeds. . . For politicians, there's no doubt the
cigarette deal is like winning the super-lotto. But don't expect it to discourage the next generation of young people from taking up a very
deadly habit.
- 11/19/98 EDITORIAL: First
They Came For Tobacco ... New York Post
- The tobacco companies themselves deserve little or no sympathy. Their
leaders have refused to make a principled case in defense of the right to smoke without government interference - but have continued to
defend the preposterous fiction that tobacco doesn't cause cancer. But that doesn't absolve the politicians of their shameful role in
criminalizing the sale of a legal product. . . If tobacco is evil and harmful, it should be declared illegal. If it is legal, it should be treated like any
other business.
- 11/19/98 WI:
EDITORIAL: Tobacco deal a genuine victory Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Wisconsin Attorney General James
Doyle called it a major victory. Gov. Tommy Thompson hailed it as a giant step forward. Both are right. The state's decision to accept a $5.9
billion settlement in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry is an important milestone in the fight against the scourge of smoking. . . The
challenge now is to make sure that much of that money is used for truly effective smoking-prevention and -cessation programs. Congress also
must take steps to allow regulation of nicotine
- 11/19/98 NC: EDITORIAL: Hold your nose . . . and sign tobacco deal, Attorney General Chandler Lexington Herald-Leader
- If this deal
reassures anyone, it's investors in cigarette companies, which is not a particularly strong selling point. The deal is disappointing. But even with
all those weaknesses, it's hard to imagine Attorney General Ben Chandler rejecting it. . . What's anything but certain is whether Kentucky is
up to the challenge of getting the most value from the settlement by using the money to protect our children's health and diversify our rural
economy.
- 11/19/98 MA: OPINION: Big Tobacco's chump change Derrick Z. Jackson, The Boston Globe
- The notion that Big Tobacco
can put a gun to the head of the people via the attorneys general is sickening, especially since the state is supposed to protect the average
citizen who can never hope to fight the legal artillery of the tobacco companies. When Big Tobacco holds the gun and when Wall Street is
already signaling that this deal will be good for tobacco stocks, that can mean only one thing. Unless Harshbarger stands up and says no to
this deal, the mass murder of thousands of people will continue, with the state as an official party to the slaughter.
- 11/19/98 OPINION: Counterpoint: It's time to shun lying tobacco execs David C. Cox, Minneapolis Star Tribune
- I
fear that the public will come away from that trial, and the news surrounding this settlement, with the belief that the senior executives who run
tobacco companies somehow are representative of all businesspeople. . . Principled businesspeople must shun those who run tobacco
companies or run the risk of being considered to share the same values. These are people and companies who should be shunned -- outlawed
from business groups and professional associations. Investment bankers, auditors, lawyers and agencies should not want to have their good
names tied to tobacco.
- 11/18/98 OH:
EDITORIAL: A whole lot of smoke Toledo Blade
- The proposal, which is slated to become the largest legal
settlement in U.S. history, isn't perfect. The tobacco industry will always find ways to sell its product as long as it is legal and will probably
target the overseas market even more. But the settlement's a start, and Ohio must join the other states in accepting it to begin reversing the
disturbing trend of underage smokers and lowering the astronomical costs of treating smoking-related illnesses.
- 11/18/98 EDITORIAL: Tobacco's sell out Savannah Morning News
- These are unprecedented penalties
on the sale and manufacture of legal products that are in no way defective. . . But Big Tobacco is being held accountable despite not breaking
any laws. Its "crime" is in supplying legal products to consumers who indulge in a personal behavior that the vast majority understand carries
potential long-term health hazards. The greater danger is posed by heavy-handed government intrusion into our everyday lives.
- 11/18/98 PA:
EDITORIAL: Tobacco twist Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- The basic trade-off - payments by the industry in exchange
for protection against lawsuits - makes sense. . . Still, we're left with a nagging sense that a desirable social objective will be achieved through
the back door. . . Smoking is indeed a public-health issue and a national issue, at that. Taxing and regulating tobacco are within the purview
of Congress, which has jurisdiction over interstate commerce and the general welfare. But when legislators abdicate their responsibilities, it's
hard to blame others for moving to fill the gap.
- 11/18/98 NJ:
EDITORIAL: The tobacco dealIs it an offer that can't be refused? The Bergen (NJ) Record
- New Jersey
Attorney General Peter Verniero is probably right to sign on to this agreement because, as he says, its terms are far better than New Jersey
could have negotiated on its own. . . The settlement can certainly be viewed as a victory for the tobacco companies, which would have been
far more hurt by the failed congressional plan. Whether the settlement eventually results in a victory for the nation's public health remains
to be seen -- especially when Congress is so reluctant to take any regulatory action of its own.
- 11/18/98 EDITORIAL: Healthy Ingredients In the Tobacco Deal San Francisco Chronicle
- California
would get $25 billion over 25 years, plus an annual annuity thereafter that would start at $900 million. Half would go to cities and counties
for such anti-smoking works as enforcing laws against the sale of cigarettes to minors. Last year's federal agreement made no provision for
local governments to share in the settlement bounty. The package has much to recommend it.
- 11/18/98 EDITORIAL: Very Big Deal / The proposed tobacco settlement is huge and will help states pay for public
health. Newsday
- To put it crassly, it comes down to this: The states will get truckloads of dollars, and the
companies will go on operating as before - but with higher cigarette prices and less fear about the penalties they might face for continuing to
sell a product that kills millions of Americans before their times. . . And even if Congress flops again, at least the states will get a bundle of
money - an estimated $24 billion in New York - to spend on public health.
- 11/18/98 MA: EDITORIAL: An antismoking windfall The Boston Globe
- Harshbarger's staff is
checking the agreement to make sure the state will get all it is promised. If the settlement holds up under analysis, the state should take
advantage of this windfall, which is subject to legislative appropriation. Those who are disappointed in the settlement should make sure the
funds go for public health purposes only, including a redoubled effort to reduce the number of people caught in this deadly addiction.
- 11/18/98 MD: EDITORIAL: Joe CURRAN faces Joe Camel et al. The Baltimore Sun
- Meanwhile, it is
not an easy call for Mr. Curran. To go it alone would most certainly mean the tobacco companies would be free to train its big guns on the
state. A final resolution could be years away. On the other hand, money from a settlement could be put to good use immediately to discourage
teen smoking in Maryland. It is more than a roll of the dice. It's a huge gamble in which Joe Curran has to outwit Joe Camel.
- 11/18/98 NC:
EDITORIAL: Deal's burning issue Raleigh News & Observer
- Easley's task, now that he has endorsed the
agreement on North Carolina's behalf, is to convince the industry to do its duty by its loyal growers, who nevertheless must resign themselves
to some big changes . . . But when Congress reconvenes in January, lawmakers need to remember the overriding federal responsibility to
protect the nation's health. In tandem with state settlements, federal action finally could put tobacco under the kind of regulatory regime that a
hazardous, but still legal, product deserves.
- 11/18/98 AZ: EDITORIAL: Accept the tobacco deal Arizona Daily Star
- Then, this deal need not - indeed should not -
become the final armistice in the tobacco struggle. Congress and the White House, in fact, owe it to the nation to pick up where this deal
leaves off. . . Meanwhile, the Clinton administration should itself file a federal lawsuit to recoup the federal government's past
tobacco-related health expenses. If successful, that case would force tobacco companies to jack up prices. That, in turn, would help to
deter smoking much as the earlier settlement drafts hoped to. But then, even without such additional action, signing onto the deal makes
urgent good sense for Arizona. Arizona, with its deplorable teen and children's health conditions, needs more than most states to move
immediately from posturing to getting big new health programs into place on the street.
- 11/18/98 CA: EDITORIAL: Benefits in Tobacco Deal Los Angeles Times
- True, the proposed
$206-billion agreement between the tobacco industry and several states including California offers fewer dollars than the plan that failed in
Congress last year. True, California might be able to drive a better bargain if it pursued its own lawsuit against the tobacco companies. But
there's no assurance of that, and the new deal contains distinct advantages beyond the fact that the congressional plan is dead and this one is
viable.
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: A pending tobacco deal, thanks to the `tiger lady' Seattle Times
- If and when the ink
starts to dry on a multistate settlement, the attention turns to states, which must manage this money wisely, and to Congress, which must
strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate nicotine. "Our work," Gregoire said, "has just begun."
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: Big Tobacco Buys Some Legal Peace Chicago Tribune
- Here are some truths about
tobacco: There are 50 million smokers in America. Most started as teenagers. The industry lied and dissembled for decades about the
dangers inherent in its product and the addictive nature of nicotine, but anyone who remains in the dark about that has been living on another
planet. This settlement won't stop kids from smoking--no settlement will. Teenagers smoke because it feels good, because they believe they
are immune from harm and they delight in engaging in behavior their parents and the adult world consider dangerous. One last thing: Using
the tort laws in this fashion is bad policy.
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: Big Tobacco ready to deal; FDA regulation still needed San Antonio Express-News
- The offer is not great. Even with previous payouts, Big Tobacco would pay out more than $100 billion less than it offered in June
1997. However, this one does not require congressional approval, as that one did. The states are doing the best they can by getting a huge
sum out of America's worst industry, albeit one that is legal. . . Congress should take care of the third by putting Big Tobacco under Food
and Drug Administration oversight, regardless of the outcome of this latest settlement offer.
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: A Weak Tobacco Deal New York Times
- The deal negotiated by eight state
attorneys general and the tobacco industry would do far too little to combat teen-age smoking, the primary goal that any legal settlement
should advance. . . But for big states like New York and California, which are both participants, giving up the right to sue -- a condition of the
settlement -- means handing over to the tobacco industry the big legal cudgel it fears most. . . . the health-related benefits must be greater
than what Mr. Vacco has bargained for.
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: A New Tobacco Deal The Washington Post
- It [the AG settlement] would not,
however, settle national tobacco policy, or even try. That is left to the president and Congress, and the president rightly promises to continue
the fight for a tougher policy next year. Our sense is that the administration ought first to file a federal lawsuit, patterned after the state
successes, to recover past federal tobacco related health care costs, which are considerable. Were the suit to succeed, the cost would force the
companies to jack up prices and thereby help to deter smoking in much the same way as the tax increase in this year's bill would have done .
. . Meanwhile, the president should propose a clean and simple bill affirming Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over
tobacco
- 11/17/98 EDITORIAL: The 3rd Tobacco Deal New York Daily News
- In unveiling the third proposed
tobacco settlement in 17 months, a group of state attorneys general yesterday may have found the happy medium that eluded two failed
plans. . . The deal puts the ball back in Congress' court. A national settlement is still needed, as President Clinton said yesterday. And the
Food and Drug Administration needs to be given jurisdiction over tobacco products.
- 11/18/98 OPINION: JAY AMBROSE: The tobacco deal Nando News Network
- Given sufficient
courage, the industry might ultimately have won in the courts. It had to realize, however, that its own misconduct and deadly merchandise had
enraged a sizable portion of the public and that the idea of smokers being responsible for their own decisions has a diminished following.
Cutting a deal and getting on with business made more sense to the tobacco companies than living with uncertainty in an era of expanding
anti-smoking sentiment. That doesn't mean the rest of us should think justice is now being done, however. It isn't.
- 11/18/98 OPINION: States Blow Smoke in Congress' Face Newsday
- The new state-crafted
settlement lacks some of the features of the bill that died in Congress, most notably the power to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug and
a set of targets that the industry must reach in reducing teen smoking The agreement also does not extend to all 50 states. But these
omissions speak eloquently of one of the real strengths of the settlement - that it is acceptable to virtually all of the important parties.. . .
what the states have come up with is considerably more than merely half a loaf.
- 11/18/98 MA: OPINION: Time to cash in on tobacco The Boston Globe
- I say: Take the money and run
- to the Legislature with proposals to safeguard the way the pile is spent, and to the public to appeal for using some of the boodle to pay for
health insurance for the uninsured poor and to lift our poorer children onto firmer economic ground. . . It is not clear whether Cellucci used
tobacco ''soft money'' to defeat Harshbarger. That kind of money is hard to trace. Nor is it clear yet whether tobacco company money helped
defeat Minnesota Attorney General Skip Humphrey, loser on Nov. 3 to Jesse ''The Body'' Ventura, despite a stellar antitobacco record. That's
all behind us. I say take the money
- 11/17/98 OPINION:
Where's there's smoke there must be ... lawyers Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette
- They already killed one effort to curb
smoking, and now they're taking potshots at another one. By "they," I don't mean the tobacco companies. I'm talking about the zealots in the
anti-smoking movement and the power addicts in Congress. . . This time around, the opponents of smoking would be wise to learn from
their mistake and take half a loaf. Especially since their position doesn't seem to be getting any stronger.
- 11/22/98 ESKENAZI: The "State Sandwich" WallStreet. This is Victor Eskenazi's site on his suit to force the state of Washington to enforce its own tobacco laws, with full complaints, etc.
- On October 6, 1998, at 10:40AM, see affidavit, the State of Washington was served a summons and Complaint asking once again to enforce existing legislation . . . Assistant Attorney General notified me that the State of Washington prefers to fight me in court rather than to enforce State laws to protect its citizens. (see Voluntary Notice of Appearance and Demand for Plaintiff to File October 26, in accord with the State's wishes, the Complaint againt the State of Washington was filed in the State of Washington, in the Superior Court for the County of King, case no. 98-2-24681-2KNT.
- 11/25/98 CA: EDITORIAL: Base Windfall Spending on Need Los Angeles Times
- Supervisors should be
able to divide what amounts to a windfall based on need, rather than rigid formulas. County officials also should remember the source of
the money--tobacco companies. Health officials rightly are seeking funds for programs to keep children from becoming addicted to
cigarettes.
- 11/25/98 EDITORIAL: A
'beneficial' price hike The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Price hikes for the sake of price hikes are not good. And there's
something off-kilter about an agreement that allows the tobacco industry to pass the health costs of its addictive, harmful product to the
victims. But steep increases may be the first serious step in weaning Americans off this dangerous product.
- 11/25/98 NV: EDITORIAL: The licking of chops begins Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Still, at the very
least, onlookers might have expected that -- having filed suit to recover medical costs for treating sick smokers -- states like Nevada might
actually earmark the funds for that purpose. Guess agin. . . The money should be set aside solely for the purposes under which the lawsuit
was justified in the first place.
- 11/25/98 MD: EDITORIAL: Signing tobacco deal was the easy part The Baltimore Sun
- The fight to
curb the addictive and dangerous habit moves to other arenas. In Maryland, residents expect their leaders to live up to their promises to be
diligent at that next level.
- 11/24/98 OPINION:
JOHN HALL: When the smoke clears, tobacco settlement is a bust The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Basically, since all
the major tobacco companies all would share in the costs of this agreement proportionally, there's little competitive loss or gain for anyone
except smokers. And outside of keeping court dockets clear, it's hard to understand what the point is.
- 11/25/98 MD: OPINION: BARRY RASCOVAR: Tobacco money should go to medical research The Baltimore Sun
- The bulk of these annual payments should be aimed at tobacco-related problems. Smoking-prevention efforts, especially among
teens, should be a major focus. So should medical research. . . Playing politics with this huge sum of money won't sit well with
Marylanders. It would be the quickest way for the newly elected governor and legislature to lose whatever good will they accumulated
on Election Day.
- 11/25/98 OPINION: MARK GREEN: Anti-Tobacco Fight Must Continue Newsday
- If the
settlement spurs Congress and states to implement comprehensive tobacco control policy it will have served an important purpose. But if
Congress and the states find in the agreement an excuse not to enact muscular reform, last week's agreement will look like a sweetheart
deal for the tobacco industry and a money grab on the part of the states - as if we flushed a pack of cigarettes down the toilet but failed to
do the hard work of kicking the habit.
- 11/25/98 OPINION: Tobacco appears astoundingly good for your wealth Electronic Telegraph
- This is, in effect, an excise duty, and the tobacco companies have caved in because they did not fancy fighting the individual states in
their own courts, and because Wall Street has long since stopped placing any value on tobacco businesses, however profitable. So, it's all
pretty grim for the poor tobacco shareholders, then? Not a bit of it. Today's mystery chart is in fact the share price of BAT, adjusted for the
various disbursements and spin-offs that tobacco has paid for over the years. You can see that whatever it does to your health, tobacco is
terrifically good for your wallet.
- 11/24/98 OPINION: HUBERT H. HUMPHREY 3d: Still a Health Threat New York Times
- The tobacco agreement signed yesterday by the nation's attorneys general does not drive a stake through the heart of the big tobacco
companies. It does not even change the status quo dramatically. Still, it is a victory for the states and their attorneys general. . . The
settlement, in sum, demonstrates how far we have to go. If we are to reduce smoking among the young, several changes must take place. . .
- 11/24/98
OPINION: TOM STILL: Don't let tobacco settlement go up in smoke Pioneer Press
- Those who oppose
Wisconsin's decision to settle its lawsuit against the nation's leading tobacco companies should first ask themselves: What did Wisconsin
fail to win in this settlement that might have been won in another five to 10 years in court? The answer: Nothing.
- 11/24/98 OPINION: RALPH NADER: PERSPECTIVE ON THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT Marlboro Man Still
in the Saddle Los Angeles Times
- The marketing restrictions in the deal are laughably weak and
loophole-ridden. . . The deal bars future suits by the states against Big Tobacco for health-related claims. It also preempts or undermines
local and county claims . . . Thousands of the industry's secret documents will remain secret. The tobacco companies do not acknowledge
that smoking causes cancer or heart disease, they do not drop their challenge to Food and Drug Administration . . . and they do not
withdraw their legal challenge to Environmental Protection Agency findings that secondhand smoke is a dangerous pollutant. . . An
invidious provision establishes that industry payments will be reduced, dollar-for-dollar, if any federal tobacco tax money is transferred to
the states. . . Before approving a settlement, state judges should allow a public comment period and review seriously the concerns
- 11/23/98
OPINION: ROBERT J. SAMUELSON: The Amazing Smoke Screen Newsweek
- Beyond taxing smokers to cut
smoking, politicians want to keep the taxes--and not to rebate them. Public-health advocates covet extra money for pet programs; and
lawyers crave their fees. All this has involved an adept manipulation of courts and legislatures. A gullible public--aided by a pliant
press--embraced the anti-smoking hysteria. Because the campaign succeeded, it will inspire assaults against other industries.
- 11/23/98 MD:
EDITORIAL: Getting Burned The Journal Newspapers [Northern Virginia]
- The entire deal, in fact, strikes us as
a big win for big tobacco. While tobacco companies must give up some forms of advertising, states will not be able to sue to recoup
smoking-related costs, such as Medicaid bills, incurred since the agreement. . . Perhaps a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but in
this case one could argue the bird is also getting the last laugh.
- 11/23/98 WI:
LETTER: Settlement helps tobacco industry Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen
(R-Town of Brookfield) already has been quoted as saying the money should be returned to the taxpayers, to which Thompson replied
that "a small portion" should go to prevention efforts. The net result of this settlement will be business as usual for the tobacco industry
and for tobacco control in Wisconsin. Most of the advertising provisions are riddled with loopholes, the industry will not suffer
financially and there is no assurance that a meaningful amount will be spent on prevention and cessation.
- 11/23/98 LETTERS: Involuntary addiction / Questions about tobacco suit Minneapolis Star Tribune
- What guarantee does Minnesota have over the payout time that the assessed company will still be domiciled in the USA? What would happen
if the tobacco company declares bankruptcy and reorganizes under the laws of Monaco or other famous seaport? . . . As an ethicist and
businessman, I applaud David Cox on his call for "principled businesspeople" to "shun lying tobacco execs" (Counterpoint, Nov. 19). It's sad that
people who participate in this corrupt industry's commerce can only contribute to the 1 in 5 chance their own child, mother or father, sister or
brother, will die horribly from tobacco use
- 11/19/98 WI: While making deal, PHILIP MORRIS officials gave to THOMPSON Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel
- 11/22/98 MI:
EDITORIAL: Up in Smoke Detroit News
- Tax-and-spenders are salivating at the prospect of $8.1 billion in
tobacco settlement bucks swelling the state treasury for 25 years to come . The lung lobby can hardly wait to launch yet more
anti-smoking programs. . . The state did not deserve this tobacco windfall, but Michigan taxpayers deserve a prompt and significant tax
cut.
- 11/22/98 WI:
EDITORIAL: Direct tobacco money to health care Capital Times
- Still not scared? Try this concept out: The
decision of the state of Wisconsin to end its lawsuit against the big tobacco companies in return for a huge payout from the firms
means that Gov. Tommy Thompson and Wisconsin legislators are about to be handed an opportunity to divvy up $5.9 billion. Talk
about a horror show! But the money that remains ought to be put to a good use. And the best suggestion yet has come from Doyle, who
says it could be used as a down payment on the state's commitment to ensure that every child has access to quality health care.
- 11/22/98 CA: EDITORIAL: Let One Addiction Fight Others Los Angeles Times
- Although cigarette smoking may not be their most serious substance problem, it would be logical to use some of this money to
assist homeless people addicted to alcohol or other drugs. . . The Times has argued in the past that this countywide problem
demands a countywide strategy. We believe each city should contribute to the effort, financially as well as with services and facilities.
But we hope the supervisors will view the bit of budgetary slack created by the tobacco settlement money as an opportunity to
address this immediate need right away.
- 11/22/98 MA: EDITORIAL: AG stays real on tobacco suit The Boston Globe
- ''In some ways,
the easiest thing would have been to play the hero, to make a big rhetorical show and promise to fight on, to never compromise,''
Harshbarger says of his last-minute decision to sign on to the national accord. . . Cellucci's record on tobacco control should give every
public health advocate pause. . . The burden is on the public health community to remind Governor Cellucci the source and intended
purpose of this windfall. . . A lame duck attorney general does not have much political leverage on Beacon Hill. But, given the role Scott
Harshbarger played in winning this tobacco settlement, the Massachusetts Legislature should cement his legacy - and its own - by
acting to guarantee that those funds are committed to the antismoking cause.
- 11/22/98 EDITORIAL: KY: Fight the addiction Lexington Herald-Leader
- The Clinton administration
should tie the settlement payments to reductions in teen smoking. States achieving larger reductions would get more money. In the case
of states that don't reduce teen smoking, the feds should keep their share of the Medicaid compensation to spend on anti-smoking
efforts in that state. Such an arrangement would give Kentucky an incentive to really do something. . . The agriculture-health coalition is
an asset that should be tapped and nurtured as Kentucky plans for a healthier, less smoky future.
- 11/22/98 OPINION: C. Everett Koop and David Kessler: Big Tobacco buys way out of just punishment Lexington Herald-Leader
- The public
once again has been presented with the details of a proposed tobacco "settlement." And we are expected to believe that the tobacco
industry is not once again up to its old tricks? . . Apparently, the negotiating parties are going to ignore state administrative procedures
acts requiring public review and comment of usually at least 30 to 60 days before adoption of major policies. The blinding amount of
money offered, even though it represents not even half of what is needed for just compensation, is supposed to hide this obligation. . .
Any attorney general who buys into the industry's lies is changing the health of Americans for the worse. This settlement might be
quick, but it is no fix.
- 11/22/98 OPINION: Ross K. Baker: States pull off what Washington couldn't do Lexington
Herald-Leader
- As their states' chief law-enforcement officers, the attorneys general are faster on their feet than the
slackers in Washington. They can administer the death of a thousand cuts to the tobacco industry through their power to initiate
lawsuits. . . A fatter and more ambitious agreement might have satisfied the most passionate foes of smoking, but what the states
have come up with is considerably more than merely half a loaf.
- 11/28/98 OH: Tobacco deal
weighing on farmers Cincinnati Post
- Some tobacco farmers, who often get only one paycheck a year, are afraid
that check will be smaller because of the proposed multistate settlement with big tobacco companies. . . ''You put a lot of eggs in one basket
and hope it will pay off in the end,'' said Bob Koehler, vice president of the Ohio Tobacco Growers Association.
- 11/29/98 NM: Gov. finds catch in
tobacco settlement MSNBC
- ³The states won¹t receive all the money that has been pledged by the tobacco
companies if in fact there is a reduced amount of smoking that takes place. And that of course, is the ultimate goal here of the tobacco
settlement, to actually reduce smoking,² JOHNSON said. The governor said he still supports the settlement signed by Attorney General
Tom UDALL last week.
- 11/27/98 States Fuming Over
Feds' Smoke $Ignals ; U.S. Eyeing Tobacco Cash New York Post
- "We look forward to working with the
states to figure out the best way to do that or ... to make sure the money is used for children and the reduction of teen smoking," the
spokesman, Joe Lockhart, told reporters. . . "We don't believe the feds have a claim to the money and ... we think we'll prevail," said
Vacco spokesman Chris McKenna. McKenna also pooh-poohed Lockhart's hint of a compromise in which Uncle Sam would try to
impose spending conditions on the no-strings money going to the states.
- 11/27/98 MD: Tobacco Settlement Triggers Spending Debate The Washington Post
- Gov. Parris N.
GLENDENING (D) said he wants to use part of the proceeds on school construction and class-size reduction. The Senate president wants the
money used for college scholarships. The House speaker wants it to fund cancer research. And various interest groups want it used to
pay for tax cuts, low-income housing and a host of other items. "There is a never-ending list of supplicants who want part of the action,"
said Fred Puddester, Glendening's budget secretary.
- 11/27/98 DC: For District, Still More Roadblocks The Washington Post
- The oddities of the District's
relationship with Congress caused another legal tangle earlier, when the city solicited an outside firm to file suit seeking vast sums from
tobacco companies. Many firms were willing to take the complex case on a contingency basis, meaning the lawsuit would cost the city
nothing. Legal fees would be paid from any winnings. But, for technical reasons, Congress would need to approve any payment, and the
firms wanted a promise in advance that Congress would do so. Congress did not oblige, city officials report, and no firm would take the
case.
- 11/25/98 Tobacco Settlement to Boost U.S. December CPI Bloomberg News
- The tobacco
industry's $206 billion health-care settlement -- to be financed through higher cigarette prices -- probably will push up consumer
inflation about 0.2 percentage point in December, a government economist said.
- 11/26/98 RI: Health care eyed in R.I. tobacco pact The Boston Globe
- Rhode Island
politicians appear united in calling for the state to spend its nearly $1.4 billion in tobacco settlement money on health care. Lieutenant
Governor-elect Charles FOGARTY is urging that the money be put into a permanent health care trust fund.
- 11/25/98 MD: State board votes to accept tobacco settlement The Baltimore Sun
- Gov. Parris N.
Glendening, chairman of the board, called the deal a "major win" for the state, which has been spending more than $100 million a year on
tobacco-related health costs.
- 11/25/98 OR:
Tobacco deal will cut into state's revenues The Oregonian
- Starting in April 2000, Oregon will get about $73
million a year from the multistate tobacco settlement . . . But the settlement has brought an immediate increase in the price of cigarettes, an
increase that tobacco policy experts say will result in an 8.3 percent decline in cigarette consumption in Oregon and thus a loss in tax
dollars. Sarah Gates, a forecasting analyst with the state Office of Economic Analysis, says the 8.3 percent drop in cigarette consumption
translates into a loss to the state of about $15.2 million a year in cigarette taxes, based on 1998 sales figures.
- 11/26/98 CA: Anti-Tobacco Lawyers Rebuked Over Fees Los Angeles Times
- At a press conference
in downtown Los Angeles, LUNGREN defended the $206-billion settlement between cigarette makers and the states, saying the deal's public
health provisions and the $25 billion it will bring California are "more . . . than we could have gained by winning at trial. Criticism of this
settlement is like criticizing Mark McGwire for failing to hit 100 home runs," Lungren said.
- 11/24/98 The Potential Impact
of the Multi-State Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement On the African American Community The Onyx Group
- As was the case with the 1997, Settlement Agreement, there are two issues of major importance to African Americans and other
people of color that are not addressed at all: proportionate distribution of resources to people of color and the international marketing
of tobacco to the developing world.
- 11/24/98
States Plan For Tobacco Windfall Christian Science Monitor
- Everyone from local business groups to youth
activists is suggesting ways to spend the booty - or holding out their hands.
- 11/24/98 Word
Of Caution To Spendthrifts Christian Science Monitor
- "This is going to go down as one of the biggest con jobs in
the history of the world," says GLANTZ. "There are so many adjustments and offsets built into this that I think that over a short period of
time, the money is going to disappear." . . One common fallacy about the agreement, he adds, is that it lasts 25 years. In fact, only the
payments will last 25 years - but the security afforded the tobacco industry last forever.
- 11/23/98 Tobacco Industry Statement PR Newswire
- We believe this agreement represents a
step forward in addressing long- standing issues of concern to the states, industry and public. With signing the agreement, the states should
be given the opportunity to implement the necessary public health provisions to reduce underage tobacco use.
- 11/24/98 FL:
Tobacco Settlement Helps UF Evaluate Florida's Youth Smoking Habits ScienceDaily Magazine
- New
research from the University of Florida shows less than one-third of those who know about the state's new Truth youth anti-smoking
campaign think it will cause youth smoking to decline. The university hopes its research results will help the state combat youth smoking
more effectively. Funding for the study came from $286,672 the university's Communication Research Center received as part of the
$11.3 billion tobacco settlement from the Department of Health to help the state combat youth smoking
- 11/24/98 Forty-six States Approve Tobacco Deal Reuters
- 11/24/98 Tobacco Companies Sign $206 Bln U.S. Settlement With 46 States Bloomberg News
- Philip Morris Cos. and three other tobacco companies said they signed a $206 billion settlement of health claims against them that
last week won the support of all states.
- 11/23/98 U.S. growers guarded but $5 billion is ``real money'' Reuters
- Tobacco growers
would get only one-third as much money under the tobacco settlement as was proposed last summer in Congress but the $5 billion ``is
real money,'' a U.S. farm leader said on Monday. . . ``I think it's a very good faith gesture by the tobacco companies ... a significant
amount of money,'' said Rod Keugel, president of the five-state Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative.
- 11/24/98 Brown & Williamson to Pay 17.9% of $12 Bln Initial Tobacco Cost Bloomberg News
- Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the U.S. unit of British American Tobacco Plc, said it would pay 17.9 percent of the $12
billion in upfront payments by cigarette companies to settle lawsuits filed by the states.
- 11/23/98 National
Association of African Americans for Positive Imagery: After Decades-Long Struggle, Tobacco Billboards Will Come
Down PR Newswire
- "Today, we can celebrate the removal in the next 150 days of all tobacco billboards from
neighborhoods and transit systems in 50 states, the territories and the District of Columbia. Taking down images of supposedly happy,
healthy Black people smoking menthol cigarettes that are on virtually every corner in low-income neighborhoods is an important step.
Removal of the tobacco billboards not only decreases the marketing to children but it lessens the constant visual cues that make it difficult
for adult smokers to quit." Reverend Brown noted that other provisions of the settlement would virtually eliminate the opportunity for
tobacco companies to support athletic, musical, cultural, artistic or social events in Black communities, which is one of the major ways that
the tobacco companies have gained access to Black consumers.
- 11/23/98 AG: INDIA: OPINION:
Dangerous smoke signals The Economic Times (India)
- Can a deal between a handful of companies and governments
halfway across the world affect FDI flows to India? Yes, when the companies are cigarette majors faced with the prospect of a payout of $250
billion (almost as much as India's GDP!). Yes, when the markets they are likely to turn to are governed by politicians more concerned with
making a fast buck than with public welfare. In such a scenario, it will not be long before the cigarette major, Rothmans, is joined by a host of
others wanting to set up 100 per cent subsidiaries in India. . . Surely, at the very least, we need to insist on harmonising the conditions under
which cigarette manufacturers function across the world. Else we will become a dumping ground for such activities. And end up paying with our
lives.
- 11/30/98 AG: NC: EDITORIAL: Use tobacco money wisely Charlotte Observer/Lexington Herald-Leader
- As Mr. Easley said earlier this
month, the state too long has been in denial about tobacco. "We have not stepped up as a state and faced up to this issue," he said. The
tobacco settlements provide that opportunity, if the General Assembly and the executive branch handle it the right way. Rather than using the
settlement money as a windfall to cover other government programs, the administration should study the issue carefully and determine the
best public health use of the money -- and then use it wisely.
- 11/30/98 AG: NY: LETTER: Birds of a Feather New York Daily News
- I was distressed to see Charles
SCHUMER advocate using tobacco settlement money for a property tax break. What does this have to do with reconciling the past or future
tragedies associated with smoking? Nothing. Once again, Schumer mirrors Al D'AMATO.. . Now, in classic D'Amato style, he has taken a
profound social issue and turned it into a crass, parochial pay-off for constituents. Sen. Pothole is dead. Long live Sen. Pothole!
- 11/30/98 AG: MN: LETTER: Encouraging corruption Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Unscrupulous
attorneys have been given a green light to raid the public treasury. They are encouraged to approach the attorney general, suggest contingency
fee contracts, obtain them, sue a defendant, pressure the defendant into a settlement and pocket a generous portion of the settlement amount.
Let us hope, for the public's sake, that the case fares better on appeal.
- 11/30/98 AG: MD: LETTER: How many billable hours for ANGELOS' tobacco work? The Baltimore Sun
-
The average taxpayer in Maryland works his or her entire life for a fraction of that proposed to pay Mr. Angelos for a few hundred hours.
This is an affront to the average, hard-working citizens of Maryland.
- 11/29/98 AG: AZ:
EDITORIAL: Curb raid on tobacco money Arizona Daily Star
- state legislators have neglected public health for
decades. Now Arizona has a windfall from a tobacco lawsuit to fix some of the damage. That money has to stay with its intended purpose
and not become a repair kit for unrelated damage the Legislature has caused. It is time for the governor to step up and lead those who would
distort the purpose of the tobacco settlement money and head off this feeding frenzy.
- 11/29/98Tobacco
Windfall Detroit News
- The Legislature must decide how to appropriate the funds -- to which dozens of interest
groups are laying claim. Some want increased funding for social programs, including smoking cessation and prevention. Others say the
money should be used for a tax cut. What's your view? . . . VOTE HERE
- 11/29/98 AG: OPINION: JOHN CAREY: Commentary: Big Tobacco Makes A Stinky Bedfellow Business Week
- The deal's worst flaw, however, is that the money puts the states squarely into bed with industry. . . This may be the best settlement
anyone could have struck with the industry. And it's less frightening than the one proposed in June, 1997, which would have given
companies immunity from private suits. Still, state AGs should have learned from the story of Dr. Faustus: Some deals are better not made at
all.
- 11/29/98 AG:
OPINION: Cassandra TATE: The endless war against tobacco Seattle Times
- What seems more likely is that the
"truth" - that smoking is a nasty, expensive and unhealthy habit - has already had as much effect as it is going to have. Twenty-five years
from now, when the money from the tobacco settlement dries up, state officials will still be wondering how to stop people from smoking. . .
The lesson in all this is that social engineering has its limits. A sizable percentage of the population will smoke however stringent the
limitations and however insistent the public condemnation. Some researchers are beginning to think the explanation may lie in genetics.
- 11/28/98 AG: OPINION: Diane
CARMAN: Smoke screen helps tobacco industry Denver Post
- We've been weaseled again. When the smoke
clears, somebody's bound to notice what a sweet deal this was for the tobacco industry. . . Considering the costs to taxpayers stuck paying
for tobacco-related illnesses while the companies were misrepresenting research findings, juicing nicotine levels to make cigarettes more
addictive, pushing their products to children, and lying through their teeth to Congressional committees investigating the relationship between
tobacco use and premature death, $206 billion is a bargain. So a movement has emerged to hit the companies where it hurts - in their
earnings statements. Several unions and other employee groups whose pension funds are in tobacco stocks have begun pressuring brokers
to find more responsible investments.
- 11/29/98 AG::
LETTERS: Readers write about the tobacco settlement and other issues Seattle Times
- [4 letters on Gregoire and
the settlement]
- 11/29/98 MN: LETTER: Spending tobacco money Minneapolis Star Tribune
- I was pleased to
see (Nov. 17) Gov.-elect Jesse Ventura's comments concerning his commitment to the state tobacco settlement proceeds for health care
purposes. . . Investing the proceeds from this healthcare lawsuit in improving the health status of Minnesotans will be the best choice for
all of us.
- 11/28/98 AG: EDITORIAL / Smoking Guns / If Big Tobacco can be forced to its knees by lawsuits, can gun manufacturers be
next? Newsday
- But tobacco is an easier target than guns: Tobacco products serve no useful purpose; company
executives for years buried evidence that nicotine is addictive and they used advertising that targeted children. Guns have legitimate uses in
law enforcement, hunting and self defense, and, arguably, their possession is constitutionally protected. Still, gun manufacturers may be an
irresistible target.
- 11/28/98 AG: NE:
EDITORIAL: Smoking settlement money should be spent on prevention Lincoln Journal Star
- As every health
care professional knows ‹ indeed, as every thoughtful person knows ‹ prevention is a key part of health care. So the state must do
everything reasonable and possible to prevent young people from falling into a life-stifling and death-inducing habit. Education and
enforcement are two sides of the same valuable coin in this realm.
- 11/28/98 AG: EDITORIAL: Tobacco deal: National policy still needed Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Beyond that, public health experts say, the settlement's contributions to better national health are hard to gauge and easy to
overestimate. They have a point. The settlement is a good deal for the tobacco companies, and probably also a good deal for the states --
perhaps the best they could have hoped to achieve. But it should not be confused with a national tobacco control policy, nor permitted to
substitute for one.
- 11/27/98 AG: OPINION: ANDY ROONEY: The tobacco deal Nando News Network
- Tobacco companies
are promising not to use advertising in the United States that will appeal to children but you know they're going to get that $246 billion and
a lot more for themselves, somewhere. If they can't advertise here, they'll advertise and attract children in China and in Russia and in Africa,
enticing them to smoke cigarettes. Instead of killing Americans, they'll kill Chinese, Russians and Africans by hooking them on tobacco
when they're young. This is the states' idea of a good thing to do? You can bet that, as the death rate from cigarette smoking rises abroad, as
it certainly will, the natives are going to start pointing an accusing finger at the source of those illnesses and that will be the United States.
We will have given them one more reason to hate us.
- 11/28/98 AG: MD: LETTER: Tobacco settlement will fund good programs The Baltimore Sun
- As the
Maryland General Assembly deals with the task of allotting tobacco settlement funds, it would do well to know what tobacco education
programs are under way. The outcomes of these could be significantly enhanced with increased funding from this source.
- 11/30/98 Tobacco Pact Creates Potential Print Windfall ($) NewsEdge
- Tobacco marketers have
the choice of holding onto some of that $150 million in annual expenditures; moving it to product discounting; spending it on other media,
such as magazines, newspapers or direct mail; or increasing support of sponsorships, continuity or point-of-purchase advertising. Tobacco
industry analysts predict marketers' choice will lean toward other marketing venues.
- 12/01/98 NY: Judge in Key State Accepts Brief Arguing for Delay and Public Hearing PR
Newswire
- Judge Stephen G. Crane of the Supreme Court of New York has ruled that a brief amicus curiae (friend of the
court) requesting the court to mandate additional time to study the lengthy and complex settlement agreement, and a public hearing
before it is approved, may be filed and considered. The brief was filed by law professor John Banzhaf
- 12/01/98 OR: Oregon's
tobacco deal now official The Oregonian
- Judge Anna J. Brown of Multnomah County Circuit Court signed
documents that put into effect an agreement between Oregon and the tobacco industry that effectively ends the state's legal cases against the
tobacco industry.
- 12/01/98 CO: Interest groups line
up for cash Denver Post
- It was standing room only Monday as public health advocates jammed a state Capitol
hearing room to give officials advice on how best to spend the $2.7 billion Colorado will reap in a legal settlement from the nation's major
tobacco companies. Filling the Capitol's Old Supreme Court Chambers to overflowing, an eclectic mix of hopeful persuaders clamored for a
piece of the settlement pie. They ranged from the directors of some of Colorado's most prestigious medical institutions to one woman who
wrote a documentary about her personal trials of quitting smoking.
- 12/01/98 AL: First
check expected mid-1999 Mobile Register
- Last month's national tobacco settlement ultimately promises to pump
$85 million a year into programs for Alabama children ranging from alternative schools to kiddie-porn investigations. But in Mobile and
Baldwin counties, officials aren't yet sure what to expect or when they might see the money.
- 12/01/98 MN: HATCH ready to mix it up as AG Minneapolis Star Tribune
- [Mike] Hatch, who
becomes Minnesota attorney general in January, TCF Financial Chairman Bill Cooper and a host of other intervenors will ask Minnesota's
commerce commissioner in January to force Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to distribute its $469 million settlement from this
year's trial against Big Tobacco to businesses who paid premiums to the big insurer. Blue Cross wants to use the money on
health-improvement programs. "I agree with Cooper," Hatch said in an interview Friday. "The people who should be reimbursed are the people
who paid."
- 12/01/98 MN: VENTURA not ready to take stand on feedlots, ethanol subsidies Minneapolis Star
Tribune
- A woman who identified herself as a Nicollet County commissioner asked him whether he would use the state's annual
share of the $6.6 billion tobacco settlement for programs to end smoking. Ventura said the money would be treated outside the regular budget.
"It's a strange can of worms because of who's paying it: the very smokers they want to help," Ventura said.
- 11/30/98 OR: State of Oregon Accepts Tobacco Settlement -- Arizona, Montana and Alaska Expect to Finalize This Week; Lead
Attorney Available for Immediate Comment and Analysis Business Wire
- The State of Oregon today formalized a
$2.3 billion settlement in Oregon State Court for Multnomah County that will bring reimbursement to the state for the cost of treating sick
smokers. The agreement was presented to Judge Anna Brown by the state's counsel Steve Berman
- 11/29/98 OK: Governor weighs
teacher retirement fund problem MSNBC
- Now [Gov. Frank] Keating and others see a tobacco settlement as a
golden opportunity to shore up a pension system that is rated among the worst funded in the nation. At a recent news conference, Keating
proposed earmarking to the system a portion of Oklahoma¹s $2 billion tobacco settlement share. Others agree and bills already have been
pledged to do just that although some officials want a significant portion of the money set aside for health and tobacco treatment programs.
- 11/29/98 Smokescreen: The Ifs and Buts of the Tobacco Settlement
New York Times
- The problem, economists and legal experts who have studied the deal say, isn't that the damages won by the
states are too small . . . It's that 99 percent of the total settlement is really a disguised tax hike. Taxing cigarettes more heavily may or may
not be a good idea, the critics say, but labeling as "damages" what is effectively a sales tax is misleading and will create a boondoggle for
trial lawyers and a windfall for the smaller tobacco companies.
- 11/30/98 That $10 Billion
Fee Law Journal Extra
- THE $206 BILLION settlement of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry, by far the
largest legal settlement in history, is expected to generate unprecedented attorney fees of at least $10 billion. But contrary to comments by
some state attorneys general, there is no cap on the fees, and some lawyers think the fees could be much higher than expected. In fact, some
plaintiffs' lawyers involved in the cases think that the resolution of that part of the settlement involving possible 11-digit fees may turn testy
and spawn lawsuits pitting private lawyers against one another, as well as against the states they once represented.
- 11/29/98 Foes of smoking
face new challenge / How to make best use of settlement money? Raleigh News & Observer
- Economists and
antismoking activists are far from united over the answer to that question, but they do have one general area of agreement: If cigarettes cost
more, people smoke less and young people are less likely to start. And one immediate effect of the tobacco settlement is higher prices.
- 11/30/98AG: EDITORIAL: Tobacco firms shift costs of settlement Kansas City Star
- Attorneys general in
most states, including Jay Nixon in Missouri and Carla Stovall in Kansas, agreed to a deal with the tobacco companies that appears to
shortchange taxpayers. State tax rates will be higher than otherwise would have been necessary had the tobacco companies been required to
pay appropriate amounts. In addition, the attorneys general promised that state lawmakers would pass legislation to protect Big Tobacco's
market share. If the lawmakers don't do that promptly, taxpayers will be harmed even more. On the other end of the deal, the public -- or at
least the smoking public -- will be paying more for cigarettes. . . The public, on the other hand, was given only a few days to analyze the deal.
It was a terrible deal all the way around, one that will cost consumers and taxpayers dearly for many years to come.
- 11/30/98 AG: CA: EDITORIAL: The Tobacco `Windfall' San Francisco Chronicle
- City officials should not
forget that one of the major arguments behind the lawsuit was that taxpayers were being saddled with the costs of treating smoking-related
illnesses. The settlement gives them a chance to cover that expense -- and hold down future costs by funding smoking-prevention programs.
Those efforts should get a high priority in the distribution of this tobacco-settlement windfall.
- 11/18/98 AG: The AG Settlement: Short on Time and Money, Long on Loopholes Tobacco Control Resource Center
- The multi-state agreement is no ordinary civil settlement. The proposed settlement¹s scope is broad and its ramifications far-reaching. Critical issues of public health will be significantly affected by the settlement¹s complex provisions. Given the proposed settlement¹s broad and very public impact, the process chosen is deeply disturbing. . . It is no surprise that the settlement agreement is laced with loopholes considering the co-authors of the document include the tobacco industry and its attorneys.
- 12/01/98 AG:
WA: OPINION: MICHELLE MALKIN: GREGOIRE: the tiger lady, or expensive paper tiger? Seattle Times
- Gregoire should enjoy the afterglow of her victory against Big Tobacco while she can. Like voters in Minnesota and Massachusetts, who
rejected her colleagues (Attorneys General Hubert Humphrey III and Scott Harshbarger), voters in Washington may soon realize that Gregoire
specializes in a kind of legal leadership that taxpayers can't afford.
- 12/01/98 AG: LETTER: THOMAS R. CARPER (D) Gov of Delaware, MICHAEL O. LEAVITT (R)Gov of Utah: Stealing From the
States The Washington Post
- After bearing all of the risks and expense of years of arduous negotiations and litigation
necessary to proceed with these lawsuits, states reasonably should be entitled to all the funds awarded in negotiated agreements without any
threat of federal seizure of funds. The federal government still is welcome to initiate its own lawsuit, conduct its own negotiations with the
industry or work toward passage of a law to resolve federal issues. The federal government should recognize that it has no legitimate claim to
these funds.
- 12/01/98 AG: LETTER: The Lure of Free Money The Washington Post
- The tobacco affair has sprinkled blood
in the water. The lure of free money is irresistible to municipalities. It's like federal aid: Nobody wants to be left out, and it sure beats taxing
your constituents. Also in advanced salivation are the lawyers. . . Along the way, will anyone stop to wonder what happened to the idea of
individual responsibility or to the basic principle of proximate cause on which our legal system is founded?
- 12/01/98 AG: LETTER:
Who gets rewarded Raleigh News & Observer
- Now a settlement is going to be made because of the horrendous
damage to people's lives that tobacco has caused, and the money is to be handed over to those people who brought that train of destruction into
our lives. It is calmly stated that these people brought much economic prosperity by virtue of raising their crop of death. I agree, they did. But
at what cost?
- 11/29/98 AG: PA:
OPINION: GODSHALL/SKLAROFF/BARG: Derail this tobacco settlement Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Under the
deal, tobacco companies would receive immunity from future lawsuits that are totally unrelated to claims filed in the current case. The
settlement would take away legal rights of local governments, taxpayers and others who aren't even plaintiffs in this litigation. And it would
grant immunity to tobacco executives, lawyers and others who aren't defendants in the lawsuit. Legal settlements should only apply to the
involved parties and should only resolve the contested claims. . . Tobacco companies would also be permitted to continue marketing to youth
as long as it isn't their "primary purpose." . . The courts provide us with an opportunity to slow down this runaway train, evaluate it and to
derail it if necessary.
- 12/05/98 MI: Ideas grow for
tobacco money Detroit Free Press
- Most Michigan voters would like the state to spend its $8.1-billion
tobacco settlement on efforts aimed at getting kids to stop smoking, according to a survey released Friday. The phone survey of 811
registered voters was conducted in October by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. in October. The Tobacco-Free Michigan
Action Coalition commissioned it.
- 12/05/98 CO: OWENS seeks
funds for kids Denver Post
- Gov.-elect Bill Owens said Friday he would like to use money from the tobacco
settlement to expand Child Health Plan Plus to cover another 60,000 uninsured low-income children. "I plan to do everything I can to make
sure the majority of those funds go to providing health care for uninsured children,'' Owens said.
- 12/05/98 AZ: State
lawmakers want TV hearings on tobacco The Arizona Republic
- Democratic state lawmakers on Friday called for
public hearings on how to spend Arizona's $2.7 billion tobacco settlement. Otherwise, warned Sen. Chris CUMMISKEY, D-central
Phoenix, the money could get lost in the "political stew" of the Capitol.
- 12/04/98 NY: Rudy Ready To Scuttle
Tobacco Deal New York Post
- Charging that the city is getting shortchanged by $2 billion, Mayor GIULIANI
yesterday threatened to torpedo the state's landmark $25 billion tobacco settlement. "The city is going to object," said Tony Coles, the
mayor's deputy counsel. "If that derails the entire settlement, then we'll have to derail the entire settlement. . . The mayor is not going to
allow anyone to blow smoke in our eyes when it comes to getting our fair share of the tobacco settlement,"
- 12/04/98 NY: City Challenges State Plan for Dividing Tobacco Pact Money New York Times
- "The
settlement gives a higher allocation to counties outside New York City on a population basis, on a damages basis, on almost any basis you
look at," said a senior adviser to the Mayor, Anthony P. Coles. "The Mayor is not going to allow a settlement that gives New York City less
than what it is entitled to. He is going to fight for fairness, and he has directed the Corporation Counsel to be as aggressive as he can be
until and unless the city gets its fair share."
- 12/04/98 NJ: Smoking
foes fail in bid to halt deal The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Anti-smoking activists are in a huff over a judge's decision
to reject their legal maneuver aimed at stalling a multibillion-dollar tobacco deal. The Action on Smoking and Health, or ASH, filed papers
Thursday with Superior Court Judge JACK LINTNER in New Brunswick, urging further scrutiny before approval of New Jersey's $7.6
billion settlement with the tobacco industry. Lintner, who is slated to decide the main issue this afternoon, refused to hear the motion on
short notice.
- 12/04/98 MO: Senator says public should vote on tobacco settlement money St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- A state senator has proposed letting Missouri residents decide whether money from a $6.7 billion tobacco settlement should be sent
straight to taxpayers or be placed in the hands of lawmakers for decision-making. Sen. DAVID KLARICH, R-Ballwin, filed a joint
resolution earlier this week that would give voters two options to amend the constitution with regard to the settlement.
- 12/04/98 WI:
Tobacco lawyers line up for fees Pioneer Press
- Private lawyers who helped prepare Wisconsin's
lawsuit against tobacco companies are in line for millions of dollars in legal fees even though the case was settled out of court. Three law
firms hired by the state must negotiate with tobacco companies for attorney fees because they cannot get a dime of Wisconsin's $5.9 billion
share of a multi-state settlement with the industry.
- 12/04/98 ID: Judge Dismisses Idaho Tobacco Suit Reuters
- District Judge Daniel Eisman
dismissed Idaho's lawsuit against the tobacco companies and if similar action is taken in other states, the payoffs will begin next summer.
After the first year, Idaho will get annual checks of more than 23-Million dollars.
- 12/03/98 MA: Judge approves
Massachusetts-tobacco cos. deal Reuters
- Middlesex Superior Court Judge Martha Sosman approved the
settlement from the bench during a lengthy morning hearing saying the deal, announced Nov. 20, was ``in the best interest of the
Commonwealth.''
- 12/03/98 MA: Pines seeks delay in tobacco payout The Boston Globe
- enator Lois Pines,
whose legislation set the stage for the state's multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the tobacco industry, has asked a Superior Court judge to
delay approval of the proposed $7.6 billion out-of-court settlement, saying the deal might prevent municipalities and government agencies
from filing their own suits against cigarette makers.
- 12/03/98 NY State Judge Asked to Delay Approval of Tobacco Settlement Bloomberg News
- Eliot
Spitzer . . . and more than three dozen public and health-care officials have sent a letter to New York State Supreme Court Judge STEPHEN
CRANE asking him for a 45-day delay in approving the state's $25 billion settlement with the tobacco industry, the New York Law Journal
and Buffalo News reported. Spitzer said the delay is needed because there are loopholes in the tobacco advertising restrictions and is
missing a section from an earlier proposal that would punish the industry if teen-smoking rates didn't decline, the Buffalo News
reported
- 11/30/98 Petition to New York Judge Crane to Delay the AG Settlement Tobacco BBS
- 12/01/98 Tobacco Litigation Fee Payments PR Newswire
- Following the recent nationwide
settlement of state tobacco litigation, an arbitration process, agreed to by all parties to the settlement, has been put in place to determine full,
fair and reasonable attorneys' fees in these cases. A backgrounder is attached which describes the Tobacco Fee Arbitration Panel and the
arbitration process. The Panel shall make public the decisions it reaches at the appropriate times.
- 12/03/98 NY: SPITZER has reservations about tobacco deal AP
- The Democrat New Yorkers appear
to have elected state attorney general on Nov. 3 said he would re-examine, if given the chance, the settlement reached by Republican
incumbent Dennis Vacco with tobacco companies. Eliot Spitzer could not take any action unless his win over Vacco is officially certified
this month and a judge delays approving the tobacco deal until January, when the attorney general's new term begins.
- 12/01/98 LA: Louisiana
surplus may fund local construction Dallas Morning News
- That money supposedly can be spent on anything,
though Mr. LeBlanc predicted that a majority probably will be spent on health care and educating youngsters about the harmful effects of
tobacco.
- 12/03/98 OK: Tobacco Settlement Approved Reuters
- The state of Oklahoma has approved the final
settlement of its lawsuit against the tobacco industry.
- 12/03/98 MT: State
eyes plan for tobacco cash Billings (MT) Gazette
- Laurie Ekanger, director of the state Department of Public
Health and Human Services, said the tentative plan calls for returning 30 percent of the settlement to the state's general fund or checking
account. The rationale, she said, is that the state has historically paid 30 percent and the federal government 70 percent of Medicaid, the
health-care program for the poor. . . Of the remaining 70 percent, Ekanger said the Racicot administration wants to divvy it up three ways,
with the exact percentages not yet determined.
- 12/02/98 JAPAN TOBACCO to join U.S. tobacco settlement NewsEdge
- Japan Tobacco Inc.
(JT) said Tuesday it will pay part of the 206 billion dollars U.S. tobacco companies agreed to pay states between 2000 and 2025 under a
landmark deal last month. . . JT's announcement came amid a move by each of the states involved in the deal to draft legislation requiring
tobacco companies not involved in the deal to pay a large sum of deposits.
- 12/02/98 Japan Tobacco Joins U.S. Health Payments Deal AP
- Japan Tobacco Inc. has
decided to take part in the $206 billion settlement between U.S. states and the tobacco industry for health care reimbursements. Japan
Tobacco will chip in about $1.4 million a year starting in 2000, as its share in the settlement
- 12/02/98 MS:
BENNETT urges trust fund for tobacco fund money Biloxi Sun Herald
- State Treasurer Marshall Bennett says
lawmakers should resist the temptation to spend money from the tobacco settlement and put the money in a trust fund. "The temptation is
going to be tremendous to spend that $185 million (next) year," Bennett said of the money already in banks from the $4.5 billion tobacco
settlement. But the state's long-term well-being would be better served by holding it in trust, he said.
- 12/02/98 TX:
State officials hope settlement will help educate teen smokers Amarillo Globe-News
- Texas health officials
said they hope city and county governments use money from the state's tobacco settlement to educate youths about the dangers of
using tobacco products. The 1998 Texas Youth Tobacco Survey by the Texas Department of Health was released to coincide with the
first payments of the settlement, officials said.
- 12/02/98 CO: Spending of tobacco settlement debated Glenwood Post
- Proposals for spending
Colorado's $2.6 billion share of a massive tobacco settlement are being debated by health and state officials. "I think getting the money
was the easy part," said Dr. Mark Johnson of the Jefferson County Health Department. "Spending the money is going to be the difficult
part."
- 12/02/98 MT: Judge's
OK makes settlement with tobacco industry official Billings (MT) Gazette
- A judge on Tuesday approved the
out-of-court settlement between the state and the tobacco industry, making official an agreement that will mean at least $832 million for
Montana over the next 27 years. Lawyers for tobacco companies and the state, reflecting a multistate accord between the industry and 46 states
reached last week, asked District Judge Thomas Honzel of Helena to endorse the deal.
- 12/02/98 WA:
LOCKE wants to use tobacco money for health, anti-smoking programs Seattle Times
- Gov. Gary Locke will
propose today to use the first cut of the state's $4 billion tobacco-industry settlement to rescue strapped health-care programs for children and
low-income families and to finance an educational campaign against smoking. Locke's plan would split the first, two-year installment of the
money - $323 million - between the no-smoking campaign and two health programs, the state's Basic Health Plan and Children's Medicaid.
- 12/02/98 WA: LOCKE: Use tobacco settlement to support health care AP
- "The governor is
looking to make sure families in Washington state can obtain health care," Locke spokesman David Chai said Tuesday.
- 12/02/98 CA: LOS ANGELES: County Agrees to Settle Suit Against Tobacco Industry Los Angeles
Times
- The settlement will produce roughly $120 million annually for the cash-starved county, and the Board of Supervisors
agreed Tuesday afternoon to create a special account so the funds could be used for health programs.
- 12/05/98 GOP Governors: Hurry on Impeachment AP
- Seven Republican governors met privately Friday
with House Speaker-to-be Bob LIVINGSTON, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Trent LOTT, R-Miss., to discuss how to sell the
GOP message on four principles: lower taxes, improved public schools, better health care and Social Security's future solvency. . .
KEATING said these governors would lead task forces on issues: Virginia's Jim Gilmore, taxes; Tennessee's Don Sundquist, health
care; Ridge, education; and ROWLAND, tobacco.
- 12/05/98 ROWLANDS wants Congress' new GOP leaders to wrap up impeachment case AP
- At
the start of the meeting, Jim Nicholson, the Republican national chairman, pre-empted discussion of the impeachment issue by telling
the governors that the meeting was intended to focus on other issues such as Social Security reform, tax cuts, education and the tobacco
settlement, according to Rowland. ``We'll get to them (other issues),'' said Rowland, who will be taking a lead role in defending the
states' rights to the money from the tobacco settlement against claims by the federal government. ``But it's not going to be for
weeks.''
- 12/05/98 CLINTON
sets own agenda for tobacco settlement AP/Pioneer Press
- As states begin deciding how to spend the financial spoils
of the tobacco settlement, the Clinton administration has its own agenda, demanding the money be spent on anti-smoking and other public
health programs. Many state officials agree and say a negotiated resolution is possible, but fights have already begun: In Minnesota, New
York and Massachusetts, the cry is for tax cuts; in New Hampshire and Maryland, leaders want money for schools. And in Los Angeles, the
mayor is eyeing sidewalks. ``It's going to be a real food fight in every state,'' said BILL NOVELLI
- 12/05/98 States Now Must
Spend Tobacco Money AP
- Some want tax cuts, while others are pushing public health. But it will not be entirely
up to them if the Clinton administration has its way. The administration contends the federal government has a right to some of that money
and plans to use its muscle to force states into anti-smoking and other health spending. ``We can't just look the other way,'' said Bruce
Reed, President Clinton's domestic policy adviser. ``We're not looking for a way to take the states' money away, but ... our obligation is to
the taxpayers.''
- 12/05/98 State Debates
Over Tobacco Windfall AP
- A look at how some states are proposing to spend their part of the $206 billion
tobacco settlement:
- 12/05/98 NY: New
York City wins repreive in tobacco fight CNN
- Lorna Goodman, senior assistant corporate council, said the
city has been given until Tuesday to decide if wants to opt in or out of the historic $206 billion tobacco industry settlement. . . "We
think the city was given a grossly unfair share of the settlement proceeds," she said, "we don't want to opt in or opt out before we know
what the true share of the pie is going to be. We don't want to give up the right to our own lawsuit."
- 12/05/98 NJ: Judge
clears way for $7.6 billion N.J.-tobacco deal The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Judge Jack J. LINTNER suspended New
Jersey's lawsuit against the tobacco industry in a New Brunswick courtroom filled with lawyers for the cigarette makers, the state and
anti-smoking groups. . . "The court does not make any findings on whether this agreement is in the best interest of the state of New Jersey,"
he said, agreeing to simply dismiss the lawsuit. . ."The largest civil settlement in history just passed without a hearing," said Stephen
Landfield, a Parsippany lawyer representing ASH locally. "There's no need for this rush."
- 12/05/98 NC: Citizen Suit
Wants Place In Tobacco Deal Greensboro News & Record
- The basic argument is that the taxpayer lawsuit was
filed first, so it's the one that should represent North Carolina. The state would still stand to collect about $5 billion from cigarette
companies, as originally announced under the settlement plan. But the plaintiffs who brought the class-action suit would get some
recognition as being the catalyst for bringing North Carolina into the pact, and the attorneys who researched the case would collect fees
for their services. "We take the position that only our suit has the actual jurisdiction to approve any settlement," said Charles
Thompson, a Birmingham, Ala., attorney representing the North Carolina plaintiffs. "The attorney general had taken the position that he
did not want to file the lawsuit, so we filed it in his stead, and it's clear that we had the right to do that."
- 12/04/98 AL: No regrets about using tobacco money for `Children First' AP
- State leaders
ready to start doling out Alabama's share of the national tobacco settlement next year said Friday they have no regrets about spending
the money on children, teen-agers and juvenile criminal offenders instead of public health programs.
- 12/04/98 TX: TEXAS CITIZENS FOR A SOUND ECONOMY: Release Records of SecretTobacco Deal
U.S. Newswire
- This arbitration may set a dangerous precedent in allowing payment of state contracts to be negotiated in
secrecy. This process should be brought from behind closed doors and subject to the light of public scrutiny. The taxpayers of Texas
deserve to know what the attorneys did on behalf of the State of Texas to earn their contingency fee.
- 11/30/98 AG: EDITORIAL: A Pragmatic Tobacco Pact Ad Age/NewsEdge
- With tobacco use clearly
established as a major health hazard, and one to which youngsters are particularly vulnerable, the temptation for judges to temporize on
the First Amendment to muzzle tobacco ads appears uncomfortably real. The pact with the states may be more pragmatic than First
Amendment advocates might like, but it's something the ad business can live with.
- 12/07/98 AG: OH:
LETTER: Smokers footing the bill for `states' Toledo Blade
- Is it going to cover the costs of smoking-related
illnesses? Or is it going into the state of Ohio's general fund and also to rebuild schools? If the latter, I strongly urge every cigarette
smoker to vote against any increase for school anything. We're already paying for it.
- 12/06/98 AG: OPINION: JOAN BECK: The Great Con Game Chicago Tribune
- Q.What about the
smokers who are ill or the families of those who have died? . . Q. So what can people do about it? A. Stop letting the tobacco industry
and the politicians shake dice with your life. If you smoke, quit. . . Why be a pawn in a high-rolling game where no one really cares
about you? A. Who? This isn't about sick people. It's business and politics and legal loopholes.
- 12/06/98 AG: OPINION: CA State Sen. ADAM B. SCHIFF: If Tobacco Deal Is So Great, Why the Rush?
Los Angeles Times
- Senate President John Burton and I have called on the court that is overseeing the tobacco litigation in
California to hold a good-faith hearing before the attorney general commits the public, this Legislature and future Legislatures to a 25-year
journey with the tobacco industry to a destination unknown. There may be perfectly rational answers to these questions, and dozens of
others that have been raised by health advocates across the country. . . Only the attorney general and the tobacco industry know and they
are not talking. But the public has a right to know.
- 12/06/98 AG: OPINION: IRA TEINOWITZ: After The Tobacco Settlement The Washington Post
- Don't
be too quick to write off the settlement as ineffective, though. A short-lived anti-tobacco ad campaign in the late 1960s--the only previous
national effort--scared the bejesus out of tobacco makers. . . If the people putting the new ad campaigns together can figure out a sure way
to reach kids, the industry could find its back to the wall again. Not surprisingly, the four states with the most recent experience all contend
that their approaches have worked. But which strategy is best?
- 12/06/98 AG: AZ:
OPINION: SCOTT J. LEISCHOW: Get smart with tobacco money Arizona Daily Star
- If we can
dramatically decrease the number of tobacco dependent people, then youth exposure to tobacco (and tobacco-using role models) will
likewise decrease. Hence, a balanced approach regarding prevention and treatment of tobacco use is necessary. . . Using funds from the
tobacco lawsuit settlement could dramatically improve Arizona's efforts to reduce the likelihood that children will become addicted and
to helping current tobacco users quit.
- 12/05/98 AG: NV: EDITORIAL: Tobacco bonanza Nevada Appeal/Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Nevada Attorney General
Frankie Sue Del Papa should fight as long and as hard as she can to keep the state's chunk of the huge tobacco industry suit settlement
money out of the pork barrel. If lawmakers get their hands on the estimated $1.2 billion ($48 million annually for 25 years), Nevada
will continue to be one of the unhealthiest states in the United States. The settlement agreed to by Del Papa was not designed to
balance Nevada's budget. It was an acknowledgment by the tobacco industry that cigarettes have been, and continue to be, responsible for
many of America's health problems.
- 12/05/98 AG: NY: OPINION: FRED LEBRUN: Political honeymoon has short life Albany Times-Union
- In any case, about-to-be state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has put New York's agreement to the multistate tobacco settlement on
hold until its been scrutinized by the new-broom team. A proper plan. A second legal opinion won't hurt us.
- 12/05/98 AG: LETTER: Tobacco and freedom Kansas City Star
- Give me back the country I once had. A
country in which I, the individual, could decide for myself what I, not a collection of lawyers, considered to be foolish or stupid. I am only
39 years old and I do remember a time like that.
- 12/02/98 AG: EDITORIAL: Up
in smoke Kentucky Post
- smoking has always been an expensive habit - expensive to society. It's perfectly right
that smokers should shoulder costs for the health problems caused by their addiction. And if the higher costs of cigarettes prompt some to
quit or never start - particularly young people - then so much the better.
- 12/04/98 AG: OPINION:
BILL STRAUB: Activists missed shot at Big Tobbaco Cincinnati Post
- In fact, anti-smoking activists missed
out on an opportunity to finally get a bead on an industry that has taunted them . . . by undermining that initial pact. . . . Big Tobacco . . .
returned to the table with the attorneys general and subsequently offered a take-it-or-leave-it deal - $206 billion with modest marketing
restrictions. That meant, of course, no FDA oversight and no ''look-back'' provisions on teen smoking. And the states - all of them - took
the money quicker than you can take a drag on a smoke.. . . A war of attrition is not going to work with Big Tobacco. . . Wouldn't it have
been wiser to take the foothold afforded by the initial Big Tobacco-Attorneys General deal and trudge onward from there?
- 12/04/98 AG: NY: LETTER:
REP. CHARLES SCHUMER: Spending Tobacco Cash New York Times
- New York is one of only two states
that ask county taxpayers to pay half of the state's portion of Medicaid. That is part of the reason that property taxes in New York are
among the highest in the nation. The rationale behind the settlement is to reimburse states for the Medicaid costs they incurred for
tobacco-related illnesses. It is only fair to return to county taxpayers the billions that they paid.
- 12/02/98 AG: EDITORIAL:
Deadly and expensive Toledo Blade
- We wish all smokers would stop, though we know not all will. We wish they
wouldn't burn up their money, though we know some don't care. Most of all, we wish each smoker would give his habit sensitive and sensible
consideration, including an assessment of what more constructive things he might do with his money - and his body.
- 12/02/98 AG: EDITORIAL: Tobacco
deal is no tax increase Deseret News
- When the cost of cigarettes goes up, the number of smokers declines. That
is a fact. Experts disagree only about the exact number. Here's another fact: When the cost of cigarettes goes up, the decline in smokers is
greatest among teenagers. . . Critics say the price increase will hurt the poor most. That's an odd way of looking at it. Here's a better way:
Smoking hurts the poor most because, for whatever reason, they are more prone to acquiring the habit, and once they acquire the habit their
chances in life become limited.
- 12/02/98 AG:
OPINION: DENNIS ROGERS: Happy days no more for farmers Raleigh News & Observer
- Two things were
readily apparent in that deal: Tobacco farmers were not part of the negotiations and the price of cigarette company stocks went up and up.
Now, farmers in North Carolina say they need $5 billion -- not the $2 billion over 10 years offered by the tobacco companies . . . Take the
money and run, boys. Henry Ford didn't give the buggy whip makers a dime when he ran them out of business. . . But the good days are
over. Tobacco in Eastern North Carolina is a dying crop, and the sooner we face that sad fact, the less painful the funeral will be.
- 11/30/98 AG: MA:
OPINION: JAY FITZGERALD: Tobacco funds for prescription drugs The Business Journal
- We'd like to make a
suggestion on how to use those funds: Earmark them for prescription drugs not covered by Medicare. . . The state now has a new revenue
stream from tobacco companies to start making a dent in the Medicare prescription drug problem. Too many seniors and disabled people need
those prescription drugs to survive. Perhaps earmarking funds from the tobacco settlement is not the answer, but it's time to start debating ideas
for a solution.
- 12/02/98 AG: CA: LETTER: Tobacco Settlement Fred W. Grannis, Los Angeles Times
- Atty. Gen. DAN LUNGREN compares
his recent accomplishments in the state attorneys general tobacco industry settlement to those of MARK MCGWIRE, and castigates trial attorneys for "their pursuit of the gravy train." A more accurate analogy in this case would be a situation where other team members actually hit the ball out of the park while Lungren merely trotted the bases and tipped his hat to the crowd. All of the work on the state suit was done by private attorneys, and the settlement was obviously written by tobacco industry lawyers. If these anti-tobacco lawyers want to get on the tobacco industry gravy train, they should go about it in the time-honored manner. They should run for public office, and get their gravy the way that Lungren did, in campaign contributions and soft money.
- 12/02/98 AG: MA: OPINION: SCOTT HARSHBARGER: Defending the settlement The Boston Globe
- Now,
to maximize these gains, we need a four-point strategy. First, the money from the settlement should be used to expand and improve health
coverage . . . and reduce tobacco use . . . Second, we need to stop big tobacco from recruiting new customers among our children. . . Third, the
new Congress should heed President Clinton's call for swift action on a comprehensive tobacco bill that regulates nicotine as a drug. Fourth,
Masschusetts must continue to fight to uphold the landmark state law that requires the disclosure of tobacco ingredients to state public health
officials.
- 12/01/98 AG: EDITORIAL: Spending the Tobacco Billions New York Times
- Congress and
President Clinton have a significant role to play in this fight. They have leverage through a strong legal argument that the Federal Government
has a right to part of the settlement . . . Mr. Clinton should work with Congress to set conditions on any waiver to insure that states use the
money to improve health care, particularly for children, and to combat smoking. Allowing state legislatures complete control over the tobacco spoils could result in no public health benefit at all.
- 12/01/98LETTER: Who
gets rewarded Raleigh News & Observer
- Now a settlement is going to be made because of the horrendous damage
to people's lives that tobacco has caused, and the money is to be handed over to those people who brought that train of destruction into our
lives. It is calmly stated that these people brought much economic prosperity by virtue of raising their crop of death. I agree, they did. But at
what cost?
- 12/07/98 WI: Activists ask judge to keep suit alive Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Action on
Smoking and Health, a national anti-smoking group, has asked Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser for a 30-day delay in dismissing the suit
so that a public hearing could be held on the agreement proposed by attorneys general from Wisconsin and dozens of other states. . .
Moeser said it was unlikely he would do so because those requests have not come from parties to the suit.
- 12/07/98 WI: Counties clamor for cut of tobacco windfall Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- The fight
for the money, a windfall of unprecedented proportions, could take on the appearance of a spiteful war over an inheritance in an
unloving family. Already, advocates have been clamoring for portions of the tobacco cash for everything from environmental programs
to campaign finance reform initiatives.
- 12/07/98 MO: Tobacco pact rattles area growers The Business Journal
- Smither, who runs the New
Deal Tobacco Warehouse, isn't convinced these dreary prospects will cripple Missouri's tobacco growers. The growers have seen little
impact from the national debate so far, he said. "I think there's a good chance that people are going to continue to smoke in this
country."
- 12/06/98 IL: Illinois Hospitals File Seeking Share of Tobacco Settlement Bloomberg News
- Sixteen
Illinois hospitals filed a motion in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago last week seeking a share of the state's $9.1 billion settlement
with tobacco companies, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The hospitals . . . requested in the filing the right to sue the tobacco
industry independently if they can't get a piece of the settlement.
- 12/06/98 Will
Cigarette Price Hike Succeed in Cutting Sales? Salt Lake Tribune
- It's one of America's most-prized public
health secrets. And it's locked in the boardrooms of the nation's major cigarette companies. Will smoking rates fall as a result of price
hikes announced by the companies recently to pay for its $206 billion deal with 46 states? And in particular, will fewer children smoke?
. . Or will tobacco companies, using the complicated financial structure of the deal, find clever ways to discount prices and keep people
smoking? ``No one outside of the industry can predict precisely what will happen to cigarette consumption this year,'' said Kenneth
Warner
- 12/06/98 Resolutions On Hate Crimes, Y2K And Tobacco End NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES Conference St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- Other action Saturday included approval of a resolution asking that any settlements between the federal
government and tobacco companies include money for cities to cover their ``unique and substantial'' costs in treating sick smokers.
- 12/09/98 CO: TABOR Author Disputes Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- The author of Colorado's
Taxpayers Bill of Rights says the state's share of a national tobacco settlement should be given to taxpayers. Colorado Springs resident
Douglas Bruce says his amendment exempts ``damage awards'' given to the state... but calls the tobacco settlement a ``court award.'' The
Taxpayers Bill of Rights requires state revenues over certain limits to be returned to taxpayers.
- 12/09/98 CO: BRUCE targets
tobacco money Denver Post
- When Colorado starts receiving $100 million a year from the tobacco industry, that
money should be given to taxpayers rather than spent on health care, anti-tax activist Doug Bruce says. Bruce wrote the 1992 Taxpayers Bill of
Rights, which requires state revenues over certain limits to be returned to taxpayers.
- 12/09/98
WY: Tobacco settlement fraction of expenses Billings (MT) Gazette
- Although Wyoming will receive about
$20 million per year from the tobacco settlement, the state annually loses about seven times that amount on smoking-related deaths and
illness. Based on "our best, most conservative estimates," tobacco costs residents more than $140 million each year, according to Janet
Martin of the state Health Department's Tobacco Prevention Project.
- 12/08/98 State Settlement Brightens Industry Prospects for 1999 Investor Responsibility Research Center
- Now that the tobacco
industry has settled health care cost-recovery and consumer fraud claims with all 50 states, the industry and its investors are looking
forward to 1999 with a renewed sense of confidence. Bankruptcy fears have turned to hopes of restored double-digit earnings growth
and even tobacco company spinoffs in 1999. Investors who weathered the storm of the McCain tobacco bill in Congress last spring
have since seen a 60 percent rise in the S&P Tobacco Index.
- 12/08/98 New
President of American Cancer Society Vows Fight on Tobacco PR Newswire
- ``The leading priority of the
American Cancer Society has to be preventing young people from using tobacco. . . The state legislature, the governor and all public
officials must do all they can to insure that the tobacco settlement monies are used to prevent tobacco usage. I am proud of the
American Cancer Society's efforts, especially its part in the creation of Tobacco-Free Ohio which is a leading proponent of strong
measures in this war against tobacco,'' he said.
- 12/08/98 UT: Judge Concerned About 25-Year Tobacco Pact Salt Lake Tribune
- U.S. District Judge Dee Benson adjourned
Monday's settlement hearing without reaching a decision about approving the deal. He later decided to request additional legal briefs
from Utah Atty. Gen. Jan Graham and lawyers representing the tobacco industry. Benson scheduled a new settlement hearing for Jan.
7.
- 12/08/98 National Conference of State Legislatures to Host 'State Legislatures: Taking on America's Issues' Dec. 9-12
U.S. Newswire
- Meeting highlights include: -- Tobacco settlement briefing featuring an attorney general
who led the negotiations with the tobacco industry, 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 11.
- 12/07/98 MD: Tobacco Farmers worry about livelihood in wake of settlement The Baltimore Sun
- Many of Maryland's tobacco growers are bracing for depressed sales because of the higher cigarette prices being charged by
the country's major manufacturers to cover the cost of the settlement. They also are concerned about plans by anti-smoking groups
to push at the 1999 legislative session for a $1.50 tax increase on a pack of cigarettes. . . Tobacco farmers also are not pleased by
the state's offers of assistance.
- 12/09/98 CO: TABOR Author Disputes Tobacco Settlement Reuters
- The author of Colorado's
Taxpayers Bill of Rights says the state's share of a national tobacco settlement should be given to taxpayers. Colorado Springs resident
Douglas Bruce says his amendment exempts ``damage awards'' given to the state... but calls the tobacco settlement a ``court award.'' The
Taxpayers Bill of Rights requires state revenues over certain limits to be returned to taxpayers.
- 12/09/98 CO: BRUCE targets
tobacco money Denver Post
- When Colorado starts receiving $100 million a year from the tobacco industry, that
money should be given to taxpayers rather than spent on health care, anti-tax activist Doug Bruce says. Bruce wrote the 1992 Taxpayers Bill of
Rights, which requires state revenues over certain limits to be returned to taxpayers.
- 12/09/98
WY: Tobacco settlement fraction of expenses Billings (MT) Gazette
- Although Wyoming will receive about
$20 million per year from the tobacco settlement, the state annually loses about seven times that amount on smoking-related deaths and
illness. Based on "our best, most conservative estimates," tobacco costs residents more than $140 million each year, according to Janet
Martin of the state Health Department's Tobacco Prevention Project.
- 12/08/98 State Settlement Brightens Industry Prospects for 1999 Investor Responsibility Research Center
- Now that the tobacco
industry has settled health care cost-recovery and consumer fraud claims with all 50 states, the industry and its investors are looking
forward to 1999 with a renewed sense of confidence. Bankruptcy fears have turned to hopes of restored double-digit earnings growth
and even tobacco company spinoffs in 1999. Investors who weathered the storm of the McCain tobacco bill in Congress last spring
have since seen a 60 percent rise in the S&P Tobacco Index.
- 12/08/98 New
President of American Cancer Society Vows Fight on Tobacco PR Newswire
- ``The leading priority of the
American Cancer Society has to be preventing young people from using tobacco. . . The state legislature, the governor and all public
officials must do all they can to insure that the tobacco settlement monies are used to prevent tobacco usage. I am proud of the
American Cancer Society's efforts, especially its part in the creation of Tobacco-Free Ohio which is a leading proponent of strong
measures in this war against tobacco,'' he said.
- 12/08/98 UT: Judge Concerned About 25-Year Tobacco Pact Salt Lake Tribune
- U.S. District Judge Dee Benson adjourned
Monday's settlement hearing without reaching a decision about approving the deal. He later decided to request additional legal briefs
from Utah Atty. Gen. Jan Graham and lawyers representing the tobacco industry. Benson scheduled a new settlement hearing for Jan.
7.
- 12/08/98 National Conference of State Legislatures to Host 'State Legislatures: Taking on America's Issues' Dec. 9-12
U.S. Newswire
- Meeting highlights include: -- Tobacco settlement briefing featuring an attorney general
who led the negotiations with the tobacco industry, 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 11.
- 12/07/98 MD: Tobacco Farmers worry about livelihood in wake of settlement The Baltimore Sun
- Many of Maryland's tobacco growers are bracing for depressed sales because of the higher cigarette prices being charged by
the country's major manufacturers to cover the cost of the settlement. They also are concerned about plans by anti-smoking groups
to push at the 1999 legislative session for a $1.50 tax increase on a pack of cigarettes. . . Tobacco farmers also are not pleased by
the state's offers of assistance.
- 12/06/98 AG: AZ: LETTER:
Money for research Arizona Daily Star
- The way we can be genuinely responsible is to use this ``settlement''
money to settle for nothing less than getting the tobacco monkey off our collective backs.
- 12/07/98 AG: NY: EDITORIAL: Heal thyselves The Business Journal
- And that suits the tobacco
lobby just fine. After all, if the funds are slotted to capital projects, that would do less harm to the industry than anti-smoking
campaigns that would squeeze future profits. Education and prevention ought not to be an afterthought, though. Rather, they and
other health issues should be at the head of officials' lists as they contemplate the settlement.
- 12/07/98 AG: MA: EDITORIAL: Spending the tobacco windfall The Boston Globe
- The
money is coming out of the pockets of people who imperil their health by smoking. It ought to go right back into programs that
enhance the health of smokers and of those who, because of low income, cannot gain full access to the medical resources of
Massachusetts. Now is the time to set a precedent that will guide legislatures in the future.
- 12/07/98 AG: OPINION: SABIN RUSSELL: NEWS ANALYSIS/Tobacco Deal's Youth Campaign -- Just Say
Scam San Francisco Chronicle
- At best, they say, the $100 million annual commitment is earnest money, a
pledge to be a kinder, gentler cigarette company. At worst, it's a clever way to get the name Philip Morris back on the tube -- a little
brand-name recognition for when kids grow old enough (nudge, nudge) to smoke. . . Tobacco companies are forbidden from selling
cigarettes in packs of fewer than 20 -- a tactic used in the past to help kids who couldn't afford smokes buy them in affordable
quantities. Why then, a clause that makes the ban expire Dec. 31, 2001? Why does the industry agree to pull down its billboards, but
not the 3-by-5 posters that plaster the walls of cigarette outlets? Why is Philip Morris so eager to warn kids that it's not cool for
them to smoke, but it sure is for grown-ups.
- 12/09/98 AG: LETTER:
Smokers, easy tax target Arizona Daily Star
- I wonder why there has not been one mention of helping smokers to
quit other than stupid commercials aimed at and insulting the intelligence of teen-agers. I am a smoker and have been for more than 40 years. I
have tried to quit often. . . Could it be governments want the money more than they want us to stop smoking?
- 12/13/98 ND: Debate begins on spending N.D. tobacco settlement money Grand Forks Herald
- "I believe we need to begin budgeting and planning for the use of the money," Senate Minority Leader Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, said. He said the state should begin targeting the money toward broad state needs in health care and education, and that a trust fund for future programs should be created. . . But Schafer and most Republicans say the Legislature shouldn't start thinking about spending the tobacco money until it's in the bank. . . Instead, Schafer placed State Health Officer Murray Sagsveen in charge of designing a "responsible and effective" plan that would include a strong public health focus.
- 12/12/98 KS:
Graves won't spend tobacco lawsuit money until it gets here Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Gov. Bill
Graves says he is not going to spend any money from the state's estimated $1.5 billion settlement with the tobacco companies until the
money actually gets here. The governor also said during an interview in his office Wednesday he fears the federal government may try to
get 60 percent of the state's share of the tobacco settlement money.
- 12/12/98 CA: CONTRA COSTA may inhale $200 million in settlement Contra Costa Times
- Contra Costa County could
collect upward of $200 million as its share of a California legal settlement with the tobacco industry. "It sounds like a lot of money, but
think of how much tobacco has cost this county?" said Julie Freestone of the county's Tobacco Prevention Project.
- 12/12/98 AK: Tobacco cash
should aid children, Knowles says Anchorage Daily News
- Alaska should spend the $22 million it receives next
year from a recent settlement with tobacco companies to pay for health care, child protection and efforts to stop smoking, Gov. Tony
Knowles said Friday.
- 12/2/98 PA: Amended Petition For Permission To Intervene, And Petition For Permission To Intervene Of Smokefree Pennsylvania And Pennpirg Tobacco BBS
- [C]opetitioners: COALITION FOR A TOBACCO FREE PENNSYLVANIA, CITIZENS FOR CONSUMER JUSTICE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND HEALTH, CLEAN AIR COUNCIL, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS, PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER, SMOKEFREE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES . . . SmokeFree Pennsylvania and PennPIRG hereby petition for leave to intervene. Petitioners seek to prevent a wholesale denial of due process to any and all who might bring public interest litigation against the tobacco companies in the future, whose efforts will be thwarted by the Master Settlement Agreement's attempt to stifle all such litigation
- 12/14/98 Questioning That $206 Billion Tobacco Deal Law Journal Extra
- Attorneys
general-elect in California and New York also have asked the out-going attorneys general to delay their approval of the deal to provide an
opportunity for public debate. Meanwhile, tobacco industry spokesman Scott Williams said that the agreement is fair, criticizing advocates
such as Prof. Banzhaf who are trying to delay approval. "They would prefer litigation and confrontation over moving forward and progress,"
he said.
- 12/11/98 NV: Judge approves Nevada's settlement with tobacco firms Las Vegas Sun
- District Judge
MARGARET SPRINGGATE Thursday approved a negotiated settlement for the tobacco industry to pay the state $1.2 billion over the next 25 years
to be used for public health programs. Springgate said the court would continue to hold jurisdiction over the case to see that both sides live
up to the agreement. She also canceled a trial set for July 2000, which had been set to hear the suit filed by the state against the tobacco
industry.
- 12/11/98 NY: Pact Could Hike
City's Cut From Tobacco Deal New York Post
- The city has reached a tentative deal to get a larger share of the
state's proposed $25 billion tobacco settlement, officials said yesterday. Details of the arrangement will be divulged today at a court
hearing before state Supreme Court Justice Stephen Crane. . . "The deal has been struck addressing the city's objections," said Marc
Wurzel, a spokesman for Attorney General ennis Vacco.
- 12/09/98 Another Knock At Tobacco's
Door MSNBC
- So what¹s stopping the entire United Nations from knocking at the door? After all, much of the
documentation is ready and available, and its in English. ³A lot of the spade work has been done,² says Don Riddle, attorney from the
Houston firm Riddle and Baumgartner, which is representing the government of the Marshall Islands in its case. ³Everyone has all the
evidence.² Tobacco companies are working hard to make sure these cases are differentiated from domestic cases, and are not seen as new
precedents for overseas plaintiffs.
- 12/10/98 OH: Attorneys may get millions from tobacco case Cincinnati Enquirer
- Former Hamilton County Commissioner
Norman Murdock and another politically connected lawyer stand to reap millions of dollars in legal fees from the national tobacco settlement
brokered last month. Since Ohio was one of the latecomers in suing cigarette makers, Mr. Murdock and other private lawyers who worked on
the state's lawsuit said Wednesday they expect to receive substantially less than their counterparts in other states.
- 12/10/98 CA: San Diego judge gives tobacco deal final OK San Diego Union-Tribune
- Superior
Court Judge Ronald Prager signed the agreement between the state and the nation's largest tobacco companies after a two-hour hearing that
briefly addressed criticism of the deal. Barring an appeal within the next 60 days, the settlement will become final, according to several
attorneys involved.
- 12/10/98
Judge OKs Settlement of Tobacco Lawsuits Los Angeles Times
- SAN DIEGO--Saying it was "fair and just" and
would "redound to the benefit of all citizens of California," a San Diego Superior Court judge Wednesday approved a consent decree that
settles five state and local lawsuits against the tobacco industry.
- 12/10/98 Judge approves California's settlement with tobacco industry Sacramento Bee
- A Superior Court judge Wednesday
approved California's $23.9 billion settlement with the tobacco industry, clearing the way for the state to receive the money. Attorney General
Dan LUNGREN said he was delighted with Judge Ronald Prager's decision.
- 12/10/984 Groups in Tobacco Suit Reject Settlement Terms/Money inadequate, terms soft, they say San
Francisco Chronicle
- The CALIFORNIA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION -- the state's largest organization of doctors -- as well as
state branches of the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY and the AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION yesterday disassociated themselves
from the settlement. Also dropping out of the case is the state branch of the AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS.
- 12/09/98 SF: American Cancer
Society Withdraws from San Francisco Tobacco Lawsuit Business Wire
- ``The national settlement is not an end to
the war on tobacco,'' stated Dr. Fogel. ``The American Cancer Society will continue to work at the local, state and federal levels to implement
public health measures that have a real and lasting impact,'' he added.
- 12/09/98 SF: Health groups want out of
Calif. tobacco lawsuit Reuters
- Four public health groups asked a court on Wednesday to drop them as plaintiffs in a
landmark lawsuit against the tobacco industry, reaffirming their opposition to the national tobacco settlement. ``We cannot be party to any
settlement that allows the tobacco industry to continue its illegal, predatory marketing efforts targeting kids, and goes so far as to protect them
against past and future liability,'' Thomas Fogel, president of the the California division of the American Cancer Society, said in a
statement.
- 12/9/98 NEW YORK Amicus Curiae Brief Tobacco BBS
- Wherefore: amici respectfully request that the Court withhold any approval of the proposed MSA pending a public review period of at least 90 to 120 days in order to permit a comprehensive review of the proposed settlement terms and their likely impact on vital public interests, request that the Court appoint a Special Master to conduct an impartial review and hearing, and request that the Court condition approval of the proposed MSA on the inclusion of a significant tobacco control program
- 12/09/98 NEW YORK Asks Judge to Approve Tobacco Settlement (Update1) Bloomberg News
- New
York's attorney general has asked a state judge to approve a settlement with tobacco companies that would reimburse the state for $25 billion
spent treating smoking-related illnesses. The settlement includes a new agreement between Attorney General Dennis VACCO and New York
City reached earlier today that accelerates payment of some funds earmarked for the city, said Marc Wurzel, Vacco's spokesman.
- 12/09/98 N.Y. Lawyers Negotiate To Boost City Share Of Tobacco Deal AP/Dow Jones (pay registration)
- New York City will get a larger than previously estimated share of the $25 billion that the state will get from the nationwide settlement with tobacco companies, it was disclosed Wednesday. Lawyer Jack McConnell, who helped the state attorney general craft the deal, asked State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Crane during a court hearing Wednesday to approve a new settlement addressing the city's complaint it was not getting enough money under the previous plan.
- 12/09/98 AL:
State has no written assurance in tobacco settlements Birmingham News
- The tobacco industry's assurances to treat
Alabama the same as other states in any national settlement were never put in writing, the attorney general's chief deputy confirmed Tuesday. .
. Last month, Pryor refused requests for written documents detailing the assurances. But he said he was prepared to prove in court that "we
have received these assurances" that Alabama wouldn't be hurt by not suing the tobacco industry and would get its fair share of a settlement
on comparable terms with other states.
- 12/09/98 N.J. Anti-Smoking Coalition Release Plan For Tobacco Money AP/Dow Jones (pay registration)
- At least one-quarter of New Jersey's multibillion dollar deal with cigarette makers should be allocated for tobacco-control programs, according to a coalition of anti-smoking groups. New Jersey Breathes, a coalition of 40 groups, released a plan Wednesday that calls for the creation of aggressive tobacco-control programs and a commission to oversee their funding.
- 12/09/98 IL: Judge approves Illinois-tobacco industry settlement; delays ruling on charity hospitals St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- Cook County Circuit Judge Richard E. Neville on Tuesday signed a consent decree between the state and tobacco
companies. His signature was needed to speed along Illinois' first payment of $112 million, which is expected within weeks.
- 12/13/98 AG: MD: LETTER: Using capitalistic means for socialistic ends The Baltimore Sun
- Why not
invest the money as a kind of "public trust," an endowment for the general good of the people of Maryland, and use it to fund a variety
of programs and tax cuts? This would maximize the potential of this tremendous windfall far more than any one-shot approach to using
it.
- 12/11/98 AG: LETTER: A tobacco addict decries paying to fund public infrastructure San Francisco
Examiner
- Apparently, as the most villainized segment of the population, smokers now have the duty to pay for the
collapsing infrastructure that the irate, irresponsible taxpaying public at large has refused to fund. I saw absolutely nothing about
funding of research to find a cure for tobacco addiction or remediation of health problems resulting from tobacco addiction. . . Why
bother to help those whose lives are being ruined by this menace? Let 'em suffer, right? Weaklings deserve to die in this brave new
world of social Darwinism that we're supposed to accept as modern society.
- 12/10/98 AG: OH:
OPINION: BETTY MONTGOMERY: Tobacco settlement right for Ohio Toledo Blade
- It does not stop the state
from pursuing future claims against the industry. It does not stop all local governments from pursuing their own lawsuits. It does not tax
anything or anybody. . . And it is not the end of the battle to protect children from smoking but rather the beginning. . . We helped write the
fine print, and we decided this was best for Ohio, its children, and the country. Every other state attorney general in the nation agreed. The
attorneys general negotiated the largest civil settlement the world has ever seen. Now, we need to focus on where we go from here.
- 12/10/98 AG: OPINION:
SHELDON RICHMAN: Tobacco deal sends logic and the First Amendment up in smoke The Journal Newspapers
[Northern Virginia]
- Today it may seem alarmist to warn that the government could refuse to pay for the treatment of older
smokers and people with clogged arteries. Tomorrow, it will be accepted public policy. When government gives something away, there can't
be enough of it to go around. Then the government will ration. The unjust extortion of the tobacco companies merely puts off the day when
the inexorable logic of government health insurance starts to bite. After the states squander the $206 billion and Medicare is strapped for
cash, the government will begin saying who shall live and who shall die.
- 12/10/98 AG: MA: OPINION: JEFF JACOBY: Give the tobacco windfall back to the taxpayers The Boston Globe
- But honesty has never been the strong suit of the antitobacco zealots. Frequently they are hypocritical, driven by deeply selfish motives:
lucrative fees for the lawyers, popularity for the politicians, and power for the public-health bureaucrats. . . In Massachusetts, spending races
far ahead of inflation, yet so much revenue is pouring in that the state has run back-to-back billion-dollar surpluses. Meanwhile, the tax burden
on average citizens presses down more heavily than ever. If the tobacco money belongs to anybody, it belongs to the taxpayers. Doubt the
good faith of politicians who claim otherwise.
- 12/09/98 AG:
EDITORIAL: Ominous smoke signals Cincinnati Post
- But if smoking is in fact such a high priority with the
Clinton administration, and if it truly believes the state tobacco deal doesn't impose sufficient controls on the tobacco industry, the
president should file his own lawsuit. Just keep your hands off the states' money, Mr. President.
- 12/09/98 AG: N.E. EDITORIAL Roundup: Concord Monitor, Concord, N.H. AP
- the anti-smoking crusade
becomes a reverse Robin Hood arrangement: It sanctifies soak-the-poor taxes and robs the poor to pay the rich. The attorneys general's
agreement now enshrines this. The rich, of course, are the private lawyers who represent the states in their tobacco suits. . . Because none of
this can be defended, it is camouflaged. For self-interested reasons, the anti-smoking advocates never openly described public choices. . . A
gullible public, aided by a pliant press, embraced the anti-smoking hysteria. Because the campaign succeeded, it will inspire assaults against
other industries. We can't tell the target (whether alcohol, or autos or fatty foods) or the tactics. But it's just a matter of time.
- 12/09/98 AG: WI: EDITORIAL: Don't squander tobacco money Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Our suggestion is to stop demonizing cigarette companies and stop making smokers out to be dimwitted victims. Smokers
understand the risks. Millions of people have quit smoking. You can't legislate away such behavior as smoking, drinking and gambling.
But we're not naive. As long as there's money to be made, you'll never have trouble finding a plaintiff.
- 12/08/98 AG: OPINION:
MIKE DEUPREE: Tobacco deal spotlights unlikely cast of good guys Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette
- The good guys
are the lawyers. . . A deal is a deal. The time to decide it isn't a good one is before you agree to it, not afterward. The states, activists and
second-guessers should look on the bright side. Maybe they will learn a lesson from this, so when they go after the brewers and distillers,
they'll insist on better terms. And by the time they get to the fast-food industry, they should have the process down pat.
- 12/09/98 AG:
OPINION: HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.: At the End of Tobacco Road The Wall Street Journal
- Since Napoleon,
the purpose of bureaucracy has been to gather information and draw rational conclusions. It is not shocking that the cigarette companies
should have done so. We all would have been better off if they could have been more open about it. . . The lawyers who've made fortunes in
tobacco litigation have themselves played a primary role in stalling a safer cigarette that might have saved millions of lives.
- 12/09/98 AG: MO: OPINION: JERRY HEASTER: Here's to a lawmaker who understands honesty in policy
Kansas City Star
- Well, Diogenes, meet David Klarich, who wants Missouri voters to decide whether the state's share of the
tobacco extortion windfall should be rebated to taxpayers or entrusted to government. . . Given public attitudes, it's impossible to believe
Missourians would vote to allow state government to keep the money. This is how it should be. What distinguishes Klarich is that he's
honest enough to acknowledge the taxpayer's right to a first claim on the loot.
- 12/15/98 VA: Retooling funds asked in Southside Richmond Times-Dispatch
- A delegate from tobacco country wants
the 1999 General Assembly to establish a two-year commission to make recommendations for the economic well-being of leaf growers
and their communities. Del. W.W. "Ted" BENNETT, D-Halifax, said the money to pay for the incentives could come fr
- 12/14/98 NY: SPITZER has little time to prepare AP
- He reiterated his dissatisfaction
Monday with the multi-state tobacco settlement supported by VACCO, but it was unclear if the Democrat would have the
opportunity to review or modify it.
- 12/14/98 BROOKE GROUP Aims to Limit Risks From Class-Action Smoker Suits Bloomberg News
-
Liggett last week received preliminary approval on an amended settlement it filed in a state court in Mobile, Alabama. . . Liggett already has
agreed to settle with all 50 states, joining a $206 billion settlement reached by the tobacco industry last month. Taken together, the state and
class-action settlements would remove all standing U.S. lawsuits against what was once one of the largest U.S. tobacco companies. ``It
would make them pretty much bullet-proof. It's a big deal,'' said Tony Tedeschi, a senior vice president at Pennsylvania Merchants Group
Ltd
- 12/14/98 Big Cities May Join Tobacco Fight AP
- Many American cities, disturbed at their
perceived exclusion from state governments' multibillion-dollar settlement with cigarette makers, appear ready to open new legal fights
to recoup their own costs of treating smoking-related illness. That could change after a hearing Thursday in St. Louis, when that city
and a group of Missouri hospitals will try to convince a judge that the agreement wrongly prevents local governments from seeking
their own damages.
- 12/14/98 WI:
State leaders say they'll fight feds to keep tobacco money Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Federal officials would
face "a big fight" with the state if they attempt to take money from Wisconsin's share of a $206 billion settlement with the tobacco
industry, an aide to the governor said. "The federal government should keep its hands off" Wisconsin's portion of the 46-state tobacco
settlement, said Kevin Keane, a spokesman for Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.
- 12/13/98 WI: Fight vowed if U.S. seeks any tobacco money Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
- Gov.
Tommy G. Thompson believes the federal officials "will have a big fight with the states if it tries to take any of the settlement," said aide
Kevin Keane. "The federal government should keep its hands off."
- 12/13/98 KS:
Tobacco deal conceals even as it reveals Wichita Eagle
- One of the key -- but least mentioned -- provisions in the
settlement stipulates that the tobacco industry will pay the states' lawyers. That makes it a private transaction not open to the public -- even
though the attorneys receiving payment were hired by Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall to represent the people of Kansas. The
agreement also overrides an attempt by the Legislature this year to limit how much the state's lawyers can make from the case.
- 12/11/98 LA:
Governor: Louisiana may sell tobacco settlement Dallas Morning News
- Gov. Mike Foster wants to sell the
state's share of a tobacco settlement to get quick cash to wipe out the state debt and free more than $250 million a year that could be
used for teacher pay and health-related needs. If that deal cannot be worked out, the state can sell revenue bonds to get the needed cash
and pay back the bonds with the annual tobacco settlement proceeds, Mr. Foster said in an interview with The Associated Press.
- 12/13/98 MCCONNELL: Don't divide settlement Lexington Herald-Leader
- For Kentucky, it would
mean getting about $3.45 billion over 25 years. That's compared to getting only about $1 billion if the federal government takes money to
reimburse Medicaid for poor Americans' smoking-related health costs. ``Without a Medicaid waiver, the federal government can technically
steal 70 percent of it,'' McConnell told members of the Kentucky Farm Bureau. McConnell, a Republican member of the Senate agriculture
committee, predicted easy passage, since every state would benefit.
- 12/13/98 MCCONNELL: Give states tobacco money Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
- U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said yesterday that he will sponsor legislation to stop the federal government from claiming any of the $206 billion from the national settlement between tobacco companies and the states. . . The Clinton administration has said it would waive the federal claim to any settlement money if the states spend their share on anti-smoking initiatives, said Stanton Glantz, a national anti-smoking activist. "That's what McConnell is trying to avoid. His is a very pro-tobacco position," said Glantz, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.
- 12/14/98 CA: Counties
plan for windfall Modesto Bee
- If the economy doesn't collapse and smokers keep puffing, about $24 million
a year in new money will flow into Stanislaus County from the state, Proposition 10 and the tobacco settlement. Other Northern San
Joaquin Valley counties also expect to receive millions of new dollars, a windfall for social programs after years of tight budgets.
- 12/14/98 WI: EDITORIAL: Gimme, gimme, gimme The Business Journal
- "Our goal was to have the
companies reimburse the taxpayers for expenditures they shouldn't have had to make," the town of Brookfield Republican said. "I'm
trying to make sure we don't use the tobacco money to fund big government." Jensen's right. The money should go directly from the
state into the taxpayers' pockets. Period.
- 12/18/98 MO: No decision in hearing on tobacco settlement interventions St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- A judge was asked Thursday to decide whether Missouri's biggest cities and counties and 53 hospitals may intervene in the state's
proposed settlement with the tobacco industry. St. Louis Circuit Judge Jimmie Edwards made no decision, giving lawyers until Dec. 28
to file additional briefs. Meanwhile, another hearing is scheduled before Edwards Monday to consider approval of the settlement.
- 12/17/98 MO: Judge is set to hear claims to Missouri's tobacco settlement St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- St. Louis Circuit Judge Jimmie EDWARDS can expect a courtroom full of lawyers today for a hearing that
could result in a delay or -- in the view of Attorney General Jay NIXON -- even jeopardize the state's $6.7 billion settlement with the
tobacco industry. At issue is whether -- on the eve of a court hearing Monday to approve the settlement -- St. Louis, St. Louis County,
Kansas City, Jackson County and about 50 hospitals may intervene in the suit. The potential intervenors contend that to be shut out now
could block them from pursuing their own claims against Big Tobacco.
- 12/17/98 MO: NIXON says hearing could jeopardize tobacco settlement St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- At
issue is whether -- on the eve of a court hearing Monday to approve the settlement -- St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City, Jackson
County and about 50 hospitals may intervene in the lawsuit. The potential intervenors contend that to be shut out now could block them
from pursuing their own claims against the tobacco industry.
- 12/17/98 WA: Lawyers who handled state's tobacco suit to get $80 million Seattle Times
-
Seattle-based attorney Steve Berman said lawyers negotiated the fees last week following the $206 billion national settlement
between the industry and 46 states. The next day, an arbitration panel awarded $8 billion to lawyers who negotiated separate
multibillion-dollar settlements for Texas, Florida and Mississippi. "I'm thinking I made a bad deal," Berman joked yesterday.
- 12/17/98 OH: FINAN:
Escrow tobacco money; forget about legislative pay raises Akron Beacon Journal
- Still skeptical of the $206
million settlement states reached with the tobacco industry, Senate President Richard Finan says lawmakers may consider setting aside
Ohio's share and spending only the interest. . . ``I don't want to see us set up a bunch of programs we're going to fund forever out of
this tobacco thing,'' he said.
- 12/17/98 AZ: Counties
sue for more of tobacco payout The Arizona Republic
- All the counties except Pima joined in a Maricopa
County Superior Court motion Wednesday to "reopen and set aside the judgment." The counties want 32 percent of the tobacco money
before the Legislature takes control of the settlement. That's an additional $200 million for the counties.
- 12/17/98 MI:
Hospitals want tobacco money Detroit News
- Judge Lawrence GLAZER of Ingham County Circuit Court
ignored the hospitals' request when he signed off on the proposed tobacco settlement earlier this month. Glazer signed the settlement
because the original state lawsuit against tobacco companies had been filed in his county. Next week, the hospitals plan to ask Glazer to
reconsider. "If the answer is no, then they're going to proceed with their own suit against the tobacco companies," said Kimberly
Commins, a partner with Lansing's Health Care Legal Group.
- 12/17/98 OK: State's tobacco funds in danger? Tulsa World
- A huge part of Oklahoma's
$2 billion tobacco settlement could wind up in the hands of the federal agency that runs the Medicaid program unless Congress says
otherwise, state Attorney General Drew EDMONDSON warned Wednesday.
- 12/16/98 Tobacco Lawyers Awarded Big Fees AP
- Four private firms that assisted WASHINGTON
state's lawsuit will split the biggest share -- $80 million, Berman said. The breakdown for attorneys in the other seven states: $70 million in
ARIZONA, $21.5 million in OREGON, $12 million in NEVADA, $10.5 million in VERMONT, $10 million each in MONTANA and
ALASKA and $7 million in IDAHO. Scott Williams, a Washington, D.C.-based industry spokesman, confirmed the figures and the states
involved. He said legal fees for attorneys in the remaining 38 states covered in the national settlement will go to arbitration or be resolved
through negotiations.
- 12/16/98 OK: Suit filed contesting tobacco settlement Tulsa World
- Two tobacco users filed a
lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tulsa alleging that a multibillion-dollar settlement between tobacco companies and states is a "sham"
meant to assess "damages" or "taxes" against consumers. Leo Hise and Jack Isch of Oklahoma City filed the lawsuit against Phillip Morris
Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and The Liggett Group. . . Hise and Isch seek
to represent a class that "consists of an estimated 40 million citizens of the United States
- 12/16/98 VA: State To Sue Reuters
- The state is planning to file a lawsuit against the tobacco
industry by the end of this week... under the terms set by the national tobacco settlement. Deputy Attorney General Frank FERGUSON says
Virginia could receive up to four-point-four-BILLION dollars
- 12/16/98 MO: KANSAS CITY, JACKSON COUNTY want right to sue tobacco companies St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Kansas City and Jackson County sought today to intervene in the state's tobacco case, questioning whether the $6.7 billion settlement
prohibits them from pursuing separate claims against cigarette makers. St. Louis, St. Louis County and about 50 hospitals across the state also
filed court papers in recent weeks in an effort to get in the case. Attorney General JAY NIXON, noting that the settlement could be days away
from court approval, warned that the last-minute effort by the municipalities and hospitals could delay or even wreck the deal.
- 12/16/98 WA: Tobacco deal lifts Locke's budget Seattle Times
- The two-year spending plan Gov. Gary Locke proposed
today rides the back of a lucrative tobacco settlement, a sharp decline in welfare spending and surgical cuts in the state's social-services
agency. . . To launch his new initiatives, Locke didn't have to cut as deep into existing state programs as expected, largely because he was
rescued by a $323 million infusion of tobacco money the state is to receive the next two years.
- 12/15/98 WA: LOCKE's budget: `No number left uncrunched' AP
- Gov. Gary Locke, unveiling a
$20.6 billion turn-of-the-century budget plan for Washington, asked lawmakers Tuesday to enhance public education by trimming social
services and using a windfall from the tobacco industry. The Democratic governor, making his debut as budget-writer-in-chief, called it his
"statement of vision." . . "The tobacco money was sort of a white knight that came along," saving the governor from having to propose
draconian cuts or forgo pay raises, education increases and other pet projects, said the Legislature's top Republican budget writer.
- 12/15/98 CO: COFFMAN: Bank the tobacco cash Denver Post
- Treasurer-elect Mike Coffman knows he's not going to win any popularity
contests with his idea, but he says Colorado should not spend any of the $2.7 billion that the state is due to receive over a 25-year period.
Instead, he said Monday, he wants to put the whole amount in the bank and spend only the interest income.
- 12/15/98 CO: Official wants
tobacco money in trust fund Rocky Mountain News
- But he hopes he can convince officials to put the rest in a
TOBACCO SETTLEMENT TRUST FUND portfolio. By the year 2026, he predicts that portfolio could earn $207.5 million in interest, which would
be enough to fund all of the programs started in the first year with more than $130 million left over. "They're already haggling over
spending the first year's allotment, but if we put it all in a trust fund, in six years alone there would be interest income that would equate
to the entire general fund budget for the Department of Public Health -- about $20.7 million."
- 12/15/98 AG: LETTER:
Tobacco settlement is a slippery slope Toledo Blade
- It is quite possible that all the people who have pushed this
tobacco issue out of self-righteousness may have put a nail in the coffin of big business itself. Somewhere in this country some people are
going to realize that you people have opened the door to the filing of even bigger lawsuits against these carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
producing, cancer-causing manufacturers to help pay for these so-called smoking-related illnesses.
- 12/16/98 AG:: OPINION: JAY AMBROSE: $8.2 billion payday Nando News Network
- No, there are other
reasons you should be angry. One is that the suits against the tobacco industry, which aimed at recompensing the states for Medicaid costs,
were never much more than legalized extortion. . . The other reason for anger is that, while the appetite was astonishing, this predatory
feeding was nothing new. . . These fees, which know no adjective entirely commensurate with their dimensions, are merely an emphatic
reminder of how unbounded by justice and sense our legal system has become.
- 12/21/98 RI: FOGARTY announces bill to set up health care fund using tobacco money AP
-
Legislation that would set up the ``Twenty-first Century Health Care Fund'' using Rhode Island's $1.4 billion in tobacco settlement
money will be introduced in January, Lt. Gov.-Elect Charles Fogarty announced Monday. Under the bill, 15 percent of the state's annual
settlement will be put into a special health care endowment to be invested by the State Investment Commission. The other 85 percent will
be allocated following guidelines established in a State Health Care Improvement Plan, which the Health Department must submit to the
General Assembly and Gov. Lincoln Almond by April 20, 2000.
- 12/21/98 Officials Of States Offer Holiday Wish List From Tobacco Sugar Plum Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Instead,
everyone seems to have visions of billion-dollar sugar plums dancing in their heads. Each state's share of the settlement is based on its
estimated cost of providing health care for smoking-related diseases. Here's a holiday sampler of states' tobacco wish lists:
- 12/19/98 CA: CONTRA COSTA: County may get $200 million in tobacco deal Contra Costa Times
- Under the $24 billion California settlement with tobacco companies approved last week, half the money will go directly to the
state, 40 percent to the state's 58 counties (based on population size) and 10 percent to the metropolitan cities of San Francisco, San
Jose, San Diego and Los Angeles. Annual Contra Costa payments would start at $3.7 million in 2000 and rise sharply to $12 million or
so by 2025.
- 12/18/98 NY: New York Judge Says He's Likely to Approve Tobacco Settlement Bloomberg News
- New York State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Crane withheld his approval for now because two counties in the state say a
revised version of the plan unfairly boosts payments to New York City. He said he would prefer that the New York attorney general's
office, which sued the tobacco companies, seek agreement with the counties over a new plan.
- 12/18/98 NY Tobacco Settlement Backed in Special Report, Newspaper Says Bloomberg News
- A New York judge has received a report recommending he approve a settlement with tobacco companies that would reimburse the
state for $25 billion spent treating smoking-related illnesses, the New York Law Journal reported. New York State Supreme Court
Judge Stephen Crane received the report from a court-appointed Special Master in the case, Richard Weinberg, who evaluated New
York's portion of the $206 billion settlement with 46 states, the newspaper said.
- 12/17/98 NY: State, NYC tangle over tobacco windfall AP
- New York City had complained
it was receiving too little and last week got its share bumped up - at the expense of the state. Lawyers for Gov. George PATAKI argued
before state Supreme Court Justice Stephen Crane in Manhattan Thursday that the state should not have its share reduced. Pataki
spokesman Michael McKeon said the New York City share increase would cost state taxpayers $452 million in 10 years. ``We think
we should get our fair share,'' McKeon said.
- 12/15/98 NC: Laid off may get tobacco money Winston-Salem Journal
- If North Carolina
gets $5 billion from a nationwide settlement with the tobacco industry, then some of that money should go to help tobacco workers
who lose their jobs as a result of the deal, state legislators said yesterday. . . ''Certainly, in my view, an appropriate use of that fund
would be to help those people who've been thrown out of work because of this government attack and help them find another way to
make a living,'' Baker said.
- 12/20/98 EDITORIAL: Tobacco Lawyers At The Trough Chicago Tribune
- Big Tobacco's pockets are
deep indeed and the bright-eyed lawyers spotted it early on. Anyone who believes these law firms agreed to help the states sue the
cigarette companies because they wanted to protect children from the evils of smoking is inhaling something a lot stronger than nicotine.
- 12/20/98 OPINION: GREGORY KANE: Tobacco giants cash in on stupidity The Baltimore Sun
- America's drug business is booming, thanks to those who stupidly indulge in drugs. The tobacco companies buy off 46 states,
secure in the knowledge that their future profits are secure, thanks to stupid smokers. You can never go wrong, it seems, investing in
human hedonism. Doing harm to our bodies is our passion.
- 12/19/98 AG: JERRY HEASTER:Tobacco bill is due. So where's the outrage? Kansas City Star
- It's
somewhat surprising there hasn't been much public outcry over this breathtaking transfer of wealth, which is only the first of such that
will be made. . . The ugly truth of the tobacco settlement is that governments and lawyers get their humongous payoff courtesy of the
disadvantaged.
- 12/17/98 EDITORIAL: Big tobacco pays again Savannah Morning News
- THE THEORY behind all the
state suits against the tobacco industry was that the settlements agreed on would help repay the states -- and counties and cities -- for
their costs in treating the victims of smoking. That theory virtually ignores the plaintiffs' lawyers' bills assessed against the tobacco
companies.
- 12/18/98 LETTERS: Cigarette
makers' duplicity / MORALES' buddy Dallas Morning News
- Funny - aren't these the same companies that
earlier this year opposed tobacco legislation in Congress that would have settled the same suits because that legislation would have
involved what the companies argued was a tax on smokers? . . In fact, cigarette makers were just USING smokers. Smokers should be
outraged, incensed! How dare big tobacco! In fact, smokers should be mad enough to protest - protest by quitting! But wait. They can't.
They're addicted. . . . Puts a new perspective on regulation now, doesn't it?
- 12/22/98 PROFILE: JOE RICE: Lawyer Reaps Rich Reward From Tobacco Settlement New York
Times
- Joseph Rice, a plaintiffs' lawyer here who negotiated the recent $206 billion tobacco settlement, was feted by state
attorneys general at a hotel dinner this month in Coral Gables, Fla. In recognition of their efforts, Rice and two other lawyers -- his
partner, RONALD MOTLEY, and RICHARD SCRUGGS, from Pascagoula, Miss. -- received rather unusual mementoes: wood-lined cigar
boxes.
- 12/22/98 NC:
Settlement could include help for tobacco areas Raleigh News & Observer
- North Carolina communities that
are economically dependent on tobacco would get half of the state's $4.6 billion cut of the national smoking settlement under a consent
decree filed Monday by Attorney General MIKE EASLEY. The remaining half of the settlement money would most likely go toward
public health and anti-smoking programs. Easley said the plan, which the General Assembly could accept or reject, has the backing of
Gov. JIM HUNT.
- 12/22/98 Dividing up the tobacco billions Raleigh News & Observer
- If the General Assembly approves a consent
decree filed by state Attorney General Mike Easley: Tobacco-dependent areas would receive an average of about $92 million per year
for 25 years.
- 12/22/98 Fund to help tobacco areas Winston-Salem Journal
- Tobacco-dependent communities
that feared the loss of their primary industry under a tobacco settlement will get help from a $2.5 billion trust fund, North Carolina's
attorney general said yesterday. The money, to be administered by an independent foundation, would be separate from a fund being
negotiated to help tobacco-quota owners and farmers, said Mike Easley, North Carolina's attorney general.
- 12/22/98 KS: Legal fees challenged in tobacco settlement Wichita Eagle
- A Wichita lawyer is
challenging a provision in the recent tobacco settlement that prevents the public from knowing how much lawyers hired by the state are
paid. Gerald Michaud, a nationally known medical-malpractice attorney, filed a motion in Shawnee County District Court on Monday,
asking the court to appoint a special master for a public review of the state-hired lawyers' fees. The two-page motion also asks the court
to order the lawyers to disclose their expenses.
- 12/21/98 MO: Judge delays Missouri's tobacco settlement Kansas City Star
- St. Louis Circuit
Judge Jimmie Edwards said Monday that he would resolve the dispute between the attorney general's office and Missouri's two biggest
cities before ruling on the agreement. A verdict is expected in 45 days. Lawyers for Kansas City, Jackson County, St. Louis, St. Louis
County and 53 hospitals filed the motion to intervene last week. They say the agreement did not guarantee them any of the settlement
money and could preclude their own lawsuits against the tobacco industry.
- 12/21/98 MO: Youth smoking is increasing, attorney general says St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- The
percentage youths taking up smoking is increasing in Missouri, Attorney General JAY NIXON said today in asking a judge to approve a
$6.7 billion deal that includes the tobacco industry's agreement to stop targeting advertisements at young people. By approving the
settlement now, the state can start getting the money and see an end to what Nixon described as the ``insidious'' cartoon characters the
tobacco industry uses to intice youngsters to smoking.
- 12/21/98 AG: EDITORIAL: Rainbow's end Las Vegas Review-Journal
- The states, it should be
remembered, based their lawsuits against Big Tobacco in large part on the alleged need for money to treat smoking-related illness. But
after everything shakes out, here's what we have: Big Tobacco pays zilch, the lawyers and the government rake in mounds of gold -- and
smokers get nothing but a gigantic tax increase and perhaps even a state-financed ad campaign chastising them for bad behavior. What a
deal.
- 12/20/98 LETTERS: Tobacco Suit Ends, but Not the Debate New York Times
- [3 Letters on
Case Study in Tobacco Law: How a Fee Multiplied
in Days (Dec. 15) ] I challenge Mr. Coughlin to take a look at infants with respiratory problems, children who have asthma
attacks when their parents light up, teen-agers struggling with a habit they can't afford and adults who come to the emergency room
gasping for breath or going into seizure because their lung cancer has metastasized to the brain. Money meant for public education
projects, smoking cessation and hospice programs will go into his pockets.
- 12/20/98 LETTER: No shades of gray in GOP thinking The Baltimore Sun
- The truth is that
there are some good taxes and some bad businesses. The tobacco industry is a classic example of a rogue industry and tobacco taxation
is one method to obtain compensation for the damage it causes. Unfortunately, the GOP at the national and state levels have taken a
position firmly in the tobacco camp, and it has cost them dearly.
- 12/20/98 LETTER: What the GOP does best Minneapolis Star Tribune
- Now the Republicans
should be really happy. For the next several months they can continue to do nothing about campaign reform, nothing about national
health care, nothing about taxes on tobacco and do nothing about the global warming crisis. They can continue to do what they do best:
nothing.
- 12/24/98 ME: Panel makes proposal for Maine's share of tobacco deal AP
- With the
highest rate of young adult smokers in the nation, Maine needs to spend its cut of a $206 billion settlement with the tobacco industry
reducing its smoking rate, an advisory group says. Members of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Council briefed three
leaders of the Democratic majority on Tuesday, urging them to use the money for anti-smoking programs the panel says are seriously
underfunded.
- 12/24/98 NY: Judge Approves a Formula for Splitting Tobacco Cash New York Times
- In
a case pitting New York State against New York City, a judge approved a revised formula Wednesday night for sharing the more than
$25 billion from the national suit against the tobacco industry. But the dispute is far from settled. The city's lawyers, who have charged
that the plan shortchanges the city by as much as $2 billion, said they would appeal.
- 12/24/98 NY: Senate proposes tuition tax break Albany Times-Union
- State Senate Majority
Leader BRUNO said the state should be giving as much money back to taxpayers as possible because "trickle-down economics works''
in creating jobs. . . State budget surpluses and a tobacco settlement fund could help pay for the tax cuts, Bruno suggested. . . PATAKI
has proposed using some tobacco settlement money to balance future budgets.
- 12/24/98 AZ: PIMA is
counting on lawmakers, not courts, for tobacco suit funds Arizona Daily Star
- Pima County is placing its faith
in the political process rather than the courts to get money from a national tobacco suit settlement. The Board of Supervisors decided
not to join legal action filed last week by the state's 14 other counties to demand a share of the nearly $3 billion Arizona will get in the
next 25 years.
- 12/24/98 KS: Judge turns back two groups in state's tobacco settlement Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Motions by two
groups to intervene in the state's $1.5 billion settlement of its lawsuit against four major tobacco companies were dismissed Wednesday,
ending the threat that implementation of the agreement would be delayed or derailed. Shawnee County District Judge Fred S. Jackson
entered orders denying motions to intervene that had been filed by Wichita trial attorney Jerry Michaud and a group of 10 Kansas
hospitals.
- 12/23/98 Officials: Tobacco settlement intervenors 'too late' Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- JOHN
CAMPBELL, the senior deputy attorney general, said motions to intervene in the settlement filed by a Wichita attorney, and by a group
of 10 Kansas hospitals, came after the settlement agreement already had been approved by Shawnee County District JUDGE FRED S.
JACKSON. "The case has been decided," Campbell said. "It's over. I have never seen anyone intervene in a case that's been
closed."
- 12/23/98 TN: Tobacco Deal Reuters
- Tennessee is suing the tobacco industry for nearly
five-BILLION-dollars. The suit claims that six major tobacco companies are working together to suppress research on the health risks
of tobacco. . . The five-BILLION dollars the state is seeking will come from a larger national settlement. This lawsuit is in addition to
the more than four-BILLION dollars the state will already receive from an earlier settlement.
- 12/23/98 DE: Delaware Files Tobacco Suit Reuters
- Delaware has filed its lawsuit as part of
November's settlement with the tobacco industry. State Attorney General Jane Brady signed papers yesterday as the First State
joined 46 other states and U-S territories in the out-of-court settlement.
- 12/23/98 NC: How cash is usedmay ease tobacco hit Fayetteville Observer & Times
- Edd Nye
represents Bladen County in the state House of Representatives. He said any aid to communities that will lose money due to cutbacks in
tobacco farming would help. ³I think it¹s the proper thing to do,² Nye said. ³I think the farming community should be compensated
from the settlement since they are going to be the big payers. This (settlement) is coming off the backs of people who smoke and buy
cigarettes.²
- 12/24/98 RICHART HARSHAM: Use Ohio's tobacco settlement to help teens stop smoking Cincinnati (OH) Post
- Richart Harsham Now that the landmark settlement with the tobacco industry is a done deal - those financial incentives could prove all the more sweet. And it wouldn't require any additional fine-tuning of the Portman bill if nicotine were added to the list of illicit substances teens under 18 were tested for when they sought their driver's licenses. There's no rite of passage quite like the day when a teenager sees his or her name on a freshly minted driver's license.
- 12/23/98 AG: IL: LETTER: Up in Smoke Chicago Tribune
- The Illinois Coalition against Tobacco
commends Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan for his statement that the state should invest at least half of its share of the $206 billion tobacco
settlement on programs that benefit children and public health. We've been dismayed by other states' intentions to use the money for
public works or tax cuts
- 12/31/98 MO: Judge dismisses KINDER lawsuit against NIXON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- A judge has
dismissed a state senator's lawsuit alleging that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon acted illegally when he agreed to pay a
Springfield lawyer millions of dollars to represent the state in its tobacco lawsuit.
- 01/01/99 NIXON can hire lawyers in tobacco case, judge rules St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- A
judge said Thursday that Attorney General Jay NIXON may use contingency contracts to hire private lawyers to represent Missouri in
its suit against tobacco companies. Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown III ruled that . . Nixon's office could hire them with the
understanding that they would be paid a percentage of what the state gets . . . His decision came in response to a suit filed by state Sen.
Peter KINDER, R-Cape Girardeau. Kinder said Brown's decision would be appealed. "We will be full-steam ahead to the Supreme
Court if it takes that much,"
- 01/01/99 MO: Lawsuit over
attorney fees dismissed MSNBC
- But Cole County Circuit Court Judge TOM BROWN ruled Thursday that
NIXON had the authority to sign a contract with STRONG under his powers granted by the Missouri Constitution. ²Therefore, it is clear
that the attorney general has broad authority to hire assistants, and that the authority is both statutory and inherent,² Brown said.
²Nowhere ... is there an express prohibition against the attorney general using a contingency fee contract such as the Strong contract.²
- 12/31/98 AR: Lawyers
seek $243 million from state in tobacco suit Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- The lawyers, Walter Niblock of
Fayetteville, Steven Cauley of Little Rock and a San Diego firm, say in papers filed Wednesday in Pulaski County Chancery Court that
Bryant failed to include them in the $1.62 billion settlement reached in November with tobacco companies. Because they were omitted
from the settlement, they contend their fees must come from the money meant for the state, instead of from the tobacco companies.
- 12/30/98 MI: GENESYS seeks to get a piece of $8-billion tobacco settlement Flint Journal
- Genesys Regional Medical
Center is among the Michigan hospitals asking for a chunk of the state's $8.2-billion share of the federal tobacco settlement, and at least
one other local hospital also might seek part of the money. . . Since hospitals bear most of the burden when it comes to tobacco
education and cancer treatment, they are entitled to a share of the money, said Timothy Keener, Genesys vice president of systems
management.
- 12/30/98 OR: AG wants to use tobacco money to tackle consumer complaints AP
- Some
health groups have argued that the settlement money should be spent primarily on health and anti-tobacco programs to steer young
people away from smoking. Myers said, however, that it would make sense to put some of the money into anti-fraud efforts. Oregon's
lawsuit against the tobacco companies was mainly based on consumer protection laws, accusing the cigarette companies of
misrepresenting the health hazards of smoking and lying about their efforts to market cigarettes to young people, Myers said.
- 12/29/98 AG: Winners and losers from the year in business Windsor Star
- WINNERS: BIG
TOBACCO U.S. states embraced a $206-billion US settlement of health claims against the tobacco industry, but the real winners are
likely to be the major cigarette manufacturers. They are now free from claims for reimbursement to the states for the cost of treating sick
smokers. The losers? Who else: the cost of dying goes up for smokers.
- 12/29/98 MO: City files motion to intervene in tobacco settlement Kansas City Star
- Kansas City
would lose its right to sue big tobacco under a proposed settlement between the Missouri attorney general's office and cigarette makers,
according to a court filing made Monday by city attorneys. The filing, officially labeled as supplemental suggestions, is meant to
convince a state judge in St. Louis that Kansas City should be allowed into a proposed Master Settlement Agreement. Joining Kansas
City in the effort to be included in the settlement are Jackson County, St. Louis (city and county) and 53 hospitals statewide, among
others. In the filing, city attorneys point out that the state does not have the right to settle a lawsuit on the city's behalf.
- 12/28/98 OH: Speaker
weighs in on tobacco settlement money, electric deregulation Akron Beacon Journal
- Some but not all of the
$9.9 billion Ohio is in line to receive over 25 years from a settlement with the tobacco industry should go toward anti-smoking
programs, House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson said Monday. The state should not be ``creating programs because there's money available
to spend on them,'' Davidson said. ``I think that's one of the things we have to be real careful of.''
- 12/28/98 MO: Tobacco settlement should fund health, education, Carnahan says St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- Missouri's share of the national tobacco settlement should be spent for health programs and educating
children about the effects of smoking, Gov. Mel Carnahan said. It's also legitimate to discuss giving some of the money back to
Missouri taxpayers, as well as earmarking part of the $6
- 12/27/98 CA:
ALAMEDA COUNTY: Millions from tobacco likely to benefit health care Contra Costa Times
- There are no
restrictions on how the money can be spent, but county officials said there probably will be a strong sentiment toward spending it on
health care when the issue comes up during next year's Board of Supervisors budget deliberations. "I can't say 100 percent of it will be
for health care, but tobacco prevention programs for teens and money for the hospitals should be priorities," county Supervisor Wilma
Chan said Friday.
- 12/28/98 Smoking suit alters
American landscape USA Today
- The ban will have a major impact on outdoor advertising firms, which are
losing about 9% of their billboard business. It will have a minor impact on tobacco companies, which must seek other marketing outlets.
It almost certainly will have little impact on smokers, experts say, particularly the teen-agers who are at the heart of the nation's
anti-smoking crusade. But on the nation's highways, where the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and others have reigned for decades, the
effect will be dramatic.
- 12/27/98 The Year in Preview Los Angeles Times
- Although the tobacco companies put their
worst legal fear behind them when they reached a $206-billion litigation settlement with state attorneys general in November, they still
face dozens of private class-action suits on behalf of smokers and health-care payers. Also, there will be pitched battles in every state
legislature to divide the spoils of the settlement with attorneys general.
- 12/25/98 Judge OKs Tobacco Money Split in NY AP
- Despite complaints of unfairness, a judge has approved a formula for dividing $25 billion in national tobacco settlement money between New York state and its 62 counties. State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Crane said a formula that gives 51 percent of the money to the state, 27 percent to New York City, which has five counties, and 22 percent to the 57 counties outside the city is ``fair, reasonable and adequate.''
- 12/24/98 NEW YORK's Share of Tobacco Settlement Approved by State Judge Bloomberg
- A New York judge has approved a settlement with tobacco companies that would reimburse the state for $25 billion spent treating smoking- related illnesses. New York State Supreme Court JUDGE STEPHEN CRANE had withheld his approval for a week until a dispute over how big a share New York City would get was resolved.
- 12/25/98 MO: Another Party Joins Tobacco Settlement Reuters Headlines
- There's another party seeking to cash in on the state's multi-BILLION dollar settlement with big tobacco. Two Saint Louis-area women are seeking class action status to file with the state against the tobacco companies. The two women say they are most affected by smoking, so they deserve to be paid directly from the settlement money. The women say they suffer smoking-related health problems because they are addicted to tobacco.
- 12/31/98 AG:
LETTER: Let's have it Raleigh News & Observer
- The correct answer of course is "Yes, we will cut taxes
dollar-for-dollar. Your $300 refund for this year is in the mail." I fear the answer is "Are you kidding? Surely you have read about all of
the special interest groups -- trial lawyers, tobacco farmers, Advertising Council -- we plan to enrich with your money."
- 12/31/98 HUMOR: DAVE BARRY's year in review San Diego Union-Tribune
- APRIL The Historic Tobacco Agreement of 1997 collapses when it is
discovered that there is still one American lawyer, believed to be located in North Dakota, who is not going to get any money out of it.
- 12/29/98 AG: PETER ALBERT: Let's use tobacco-accord money to help smokers quit Seattle Times
- IF we were in a war that killed 1,200 Americans every day, it would dominate the headlines. . . Smokers can and will quit if we get
the truth out, but this won't happen by itself. Let's stop the commercial war on smokers. Washington will soon start getting money from
the tobacco settlement. Tobacco kills more residents of this state than anything else. Let's spend the money where it will do the most
good. Let's help smokers quit.
- 12/30/98 AG: ND:
RYAN BAKKEN: State should cough up tobacco bucks if GF goes 'Cold Turkey' Grand Forks Herald
- "Cold
Turkey" . . . was about residents of a small Iowa town who agreed to give up smoking for 30 days in order to win $25 million. . . here's
my proposal: The state of North Dakota gives Grand Forks the $115 million it needs for its share of the dike costs if its 49,000 citizens
go a month without smoking. Think of it. We could become an inspiration across the land with our clean air becoming even cleaner. No
doubt, millions would follow in throwing away their cancer sticks.
- 12/30/98 AG: AZ:
EDITORIAL: Rethink tobacco money Arizona Daily Star
- Arizona has landed itself in a whirlpool of
controversy over how to parcel out its share of the tobacco lawsuit settlement. It is a long shot, but if individual counties and legislators
redirect their instincts for money grabbing and just spend their windfall on health care, the whole mess could subside. The nearly $3
billion Arizona will receive over 25 years from a national tobacco suit settlement should always have been intended for medical costs,
much of it from smoking ills among low-income Arizonans.
- 12/30/98 AG:
LESTER BRICKMAN: Want to Be a Billionaire? Sue a Tobacco Company. The Wall Street Journal
- The
choice is stark. Either Congress exercises oversight over the fees so that states get a larger share of the settlement funds, or a handful of
lawyers pockets more than $25 billion over the next 50 years and continue thereafter to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars a year
until well into the 22nd century, if not beyond.
- 12/28/98 AG: WAYNE KING: Tobacco settlement is crowned by hypocrisy The Business Journal
- The
question is this: If tobacco is the deadly drug that the states maintain it is, and were willing to go to court to prove, why are they joining
an alliance that, if nothing else, puts them in economic partnership with the very industry they seemed bent on putting out of business --
in effect guaranteeing the industry's survival for at least another 25 years?
- 12/28/98 LETTER: Taxpayers gouged to pay smokers' health-care costs Lexington Herald-Leader
- Rather than sue the tobacco industry, taxpayers should sue the federal government and the states for providing ``free'' health
insurance to people too ignorant to make a correct, informed choice.
- 12/27/98 AG: KY: EDITORIAL: Real opportunity: Use Kentucky's tobacco settlement money to find new directions for family
farming Lexington Herald-Leader
- Kentucky must seize this opportunity to fundamentally restructure
agriculture. Thanks to the tobacco settlement, there will be ample money to finance a plan for freeing Kentucky's rural economy from its
dependence on tobacco. Perhaps as much as $138 million a year over the next couple of decades will come to the state. Some of that
needs to go directly into anti-smoking efforts. But it makes sense to also invest heavily in a solid plan for farm-based economic
development.
- 12/27/98 BILL BISHOP: Benchmark for KENTUCKY Lexington Herald-Leader
- Easley filed papers
in court this week that would set aside half of the $4.6 billion his state is to receive. That money would be used solely for the benefit of
farming communities, the towns and counties who will see a diminishing portion of their income derive from tobacco as the years go by.
If Easley's proposal is accepted by the North Carolina General Assembly -- and it already has support from the governor and legislative
leaders -- $92 million would be placed in a foundation to benefit tobacco-growing communities every year for 25 years. . . The windfall
states will receive over the next 25 years sprang from the soil of rural communities. North Carolina has acknowledged that debt and
pledged repayment.
- 01/02/99 MO: Tobacco money looms atop '99 Missouri agenda Kansas City Star
- Missouri's $6.7
billion share of the national tobacco settlement will not begin arriving until a year from now. But the prospect of all that money coming
home during the next 25 years will dramatically affect this year's legislative debates. . . Sen. David Klarich, a Ballwin Republican, has
filed a joint resolution that would let the voters decide whether the money should be refunded to taxpayers along with other state revenue
under the Hancock requirements.
- 12/31/98 CHARLES W. WOLFRAM: Tobacco Fee Fallout Law News Network
- Perhaps of vastly
more importance is the political fallout. Those lawyers who manage to hang onto a substantial portion of their wealth will now be in a
position to constitute a new political class.. . Tort reform of any significant kind will now find the going much more difficult in national
and state legislatures, possibly for decades. In states such as Texas, in which judicial elections have already become ritualized scandals
of political spending, new warfare will break out in attempts to reshape and control the bench. The legal arms race will undoubtedly heat
up significantly with this vast new store of political treasure available to fund it. How consumers and the American economy will fare is
less clear.
- 01/04/99 WAYNE KING: $251 billion tobacco settlement is crowned by hypocrisy The Business Journal
- The question is this: If tobacco is the deadly drug that the states maintain it is, and were willing to go to court to prove it, why
are they joining an alliance that, if nothing else, puts them in economic partnership with the very industry they seemed bent on putting
out of business -- in effect guaranteeing the industry's survival for at least another 25 years? Put another way, how much economic
strain is a state legislature likely to put on an enterprise that owes it $24 billion bucks? Put them out of business and the golden
goose is dead.
- 01/05/99 AG: NY: EDITORIAL: Gov Slices BigApple New York Daily News
- Of the $25 billion going
to New York State over 25 years, counties outside the city will get 145% of their damages, the state will get 105%, but the city will get
only 74% of its damages. The tilt is especially unfair because 65% of the state's Medicaid recipients are in the city. When Mayor
Giuliani cried foul, outgoing Attorney General Dennis VACCO gave the city a larger share. But PATAKI blocked that change and, as a
result, the city will lose $700 million over the life of the settlement.
- 01/04/99 AG: EDITORIAL: Instant billionaires * Lawyers win big on tobacco settlement San Diego
Union-Tribune
- But as Rice's remarks reveal, the legal jihad against Big Tobacco was hardly borne out of pathos for the
thousands of Americans suffering from smoking-related illnesses. No, the trial lawyers were motivated by personal avarice; by the lure
of billions of dollars in fees. This is the new-fashioned way to generate great fortunes in America today. You don't invent. You don't
build. You don't produce. You don't even invest. You just sue the pants -- preferably with deep pockets -- off those who do.
- 01/04/99 JOHN PEPPERDINE: Tobacco : Lining pockets and filling graves Wichita Business Journal
- Well, Mr. Palace, your nightmare has happened, but this one is a little different from your scenario. You see, those tobacco
companies that you allied yourself and your organization with raised the price by 45 cents on their own, without debate. And guess
what? -- that price increase did not go back to Kansans or their local communities, it went right into the pockets of the tobacco
industry. . . Find me a product that kills one in three of its users. Find me a product that has been genetically engineered with a
colorless, odorless, tasteless chemical -- nicotine -- to be highly addictive to its users. Find me a product that was distributed by its
makers for decades, even though they were well aware of its deadly consequences. Mr. Palace, I believe most businesses would
consider this highly unethical and refuse to manufacture such a product.
- 01/07/99 EDITORIAL: Governor Pataki's State of Mind New York Times
- Freshly re-elected, Gov.
George Pataki gave a State of the State address yesterday that was a disappointing effort to make the incremental sound grand. . . In a long
hour, however, Mr. Pataki spoke for only a few seconds on health care, not a word on how to allocate the tobacco settlement and one
sentence, an afterthought perhaps, promising to clean up the state's abysmal campaign finance system.
- 01/07/99 UT: GRAHAM
faces challenges on tobacco deal Deseret News
- First is ensuring the $836 million Utah will receive over the next 25
years is spent appropriately. Graham wants the money spent on tobacco prevention, cessation and research into why young people start
smoking. . . Next, the Attorney General's Office will be responsible for enforcing the settlement agreement approved Wednesday by U.S.
District Court Judge Dee Benson. The agreement requires tobacco companies to stop marketing cigarettes to youths.
- 01/07/99 UT: Tobacco Cash: Next Step Is
Divvying It Up Salt Lake Tribune
- U.S. District Judge Dee BENSON phoned Atty. Gen. Jan GRAHAM on
Wednesday to tell her he had signed the multistate tobacco deal. He also canceled a hearing today for oral arguments on questions about the
settlement he raised last month. Benson's signature makes Utah the 43rd of 46 states eligible to take part in the historic, $206 billion legal
agreement.
- 01/06/99 CO: Tobacco cash heading
for state Denver Post
- Colorado's windfall from Big Tobacco - about $100 million a year until 2025 - may start
pouring in before spring, Attorney General Gale Norton announced Tuesday. And Norton issued recommendations that the money should be
spent on "improving the health" of Coloradans.
- 01/07/99 CO:
Legislature prepares for tobacco money debate Glenwood Post
- New Senate President Ray Powers, R-Colorado
Springs, mentioned the controversy in his opening-day speech Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Mike Feeley, D-Lakewood, praised a
proposal by Gov.-elect Bill Owens to use some of it for children's health care. . . Their remarks came a day after Attorney General Gale
Norton's recommendations for distributing Colorado's nearly $2.7-billion share of the lawsuit settlement. A task force suggested the bulk of the
money, about 44 percent, finance children's health programs.
- 01/06/99 CO: Programs to prevent
smoking get push Rocky Mountain News
- Colorado's $2.65 billion tobacco settlement should be spent
exclusively on programs to prevent smoking and other health-related projects, a task force assembled by Attorney General Gale Norton
recommended Tuesday. . . The recommendations from the study group, which was made up predominantly of state health-care officials,
will be forwarded to the legislature and Gov.-elect Bill Owens.
- 01/05/99 SC: State Ends Tobacco Suit Reuters
- South Carolina's out of a tobacco lawsuit. Judge Costa
Pleicones (pla-cone-es) signed an order last week releasing the state from the suit. Instead, the state will collect a two-point-two-BILLION
dollar settlement from the tobacco industry.
- 01/06/99 CT: Kids the focus of
anti-smoking advocates Newsday
- "Who does the (tobacco) industry target? Children," said Dr. David
Kessler, dean of the Yale University School of Medicine and former chief of the Food and Drug Administration. "This state's job is to
unconvince them to smoke." While panelists at a Tuesday forum held by the state Commission on Children spoke mostly about the
stark smoking statistics, some general ideas were offered on keeping kids away from cigarettes.
- 01/04/99 Tobacco: Companies Refocus Efforts as Litigation Cloud Lifts New York Times
- "The
single biggest litigation threat has receded," said Martin Feldman, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. "But tobacco will remain a
difficult social issue, and the residual litigation risk will be of concern to investors." Mary Aronson, the president of Aronson
Washington Research, which advises institutional investors on tobacco litigation risks, said that state lawsuits were just part of a
"snowstorm" of legal problems that have fallen on the industry in recent years.
- 01/04/99 Tobacco Settlement
Sheds Light On Lawyers' Network The Arizona Republic
- Nearly three years ago, ROB CAREY resigned as
Attorney General Grant Woods' top assistant under a cloud of controversy that formed around alleged misuse of a $25,000 office
account. Now Carey, 38, an attorney in private practice, is in line for a share of a $61 million payout to the lawyers he helped sue Big
Tobacco on behalf of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont. . . The lawyers Carey helped also represented Arizona in its
tobacco lawsuit. But there is no indication of impropriety on Carey's part. He says he worked only on tobacco lawsuits involving other
states, and wasn't involved in Arizona's selection of private attorneys. But his role in the tobacco litigation sheds light on the network of
attorneys that formed around the controversial cases.
- 01/04/99 AZ: Big money from
Big Tobacco for lawyers The Arizona Republic
- Even though the tobacco companies are paying the attorneys -
not taxpayers - the sheer size of the payout has caused a mild stir. "It doesn't appear to be reasonable to me, based on my limited
knowledge," outgoing state Sen. John Kaites said. The Glendale Republican said he was unable to persuade the Legislature to pass
legislation that would have required a judge to determine that the attorney fees were reasonable. Attorney General Grant Woods defended
the fees
- 01/01/99 KS: Speak out!
Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Poll concluded 11/24/98 Should Kansas go along with the national $206 billion tobacco
settlement or pursue its own lawsuits against the big tobacco companies? Yes (36%) = 14 No (36%) = 14 I don't think the states should
be suing the big tobacco companies in the first place. (28%) = 11 TOTAL 39
- 01/01/99 UT: Graham,
Industry Urge Judge to OK Tobacco Deal Salt Lake Tribune
- When U.S. District Judge Dee Benson refused
-- at least temporarily -- to approve Utah's settlement with cigarette manufacturers, he mused aloud about philosophical and practical
criticisms of the $206 billion national deal. The 25-year payout means states will become tacit supporters of the tobacco industry,
because it must remain profitable to fund the settlement, Benson observed at a December hearing. . . But Utah Atty. Gen. Jan Graham
and attorneys for the tobacco industry -- focusing on the practical -- are arguing anew that the settlement is fair and workable. In court
filings this week, both sides urge Benson to approve the deal at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 7.
- 01/07/99 PA: Hospitals sue tobacco industry over smoking-related illnesses St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- On the eve of what lawyers for the state hope will be an $11 billion settlement of state claims against cigarette makers, Pennsylvania
hospitals pursued a claim of their own over the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. The lawsuit by 15 hospitals, which was moved to U.S.
District Court in Pittsburgh Thursday, names a dozen tobacco manufacturers . . . "The irony of these challenges by so-called health advocates
is that if successful, Pennsylvania will receive no money to fund future health-care initiatives," said attorney general's spokesman Sean Connolly
on Thursday.
- 01/07/99 Advertising to Class
Members Set to Begin as Next Step in LIGGETT Settlement Process PR Newswire
- Liggett Group Inc. . . announced
today that the first advertisements will begin running next week as a part of a campaign to provide notice to class members regarding its
nationwide settlement of claims by smokers and other allegedly damaged by cigarettes. The notice campaign, which is an integral part of
obtaining court approval of the settlement, was approved and authorized in an action entitled, Fletcher, et al. v. Brooke Group Ltd., et al., by
Judge Braxton L. Kittrell, Jr., who is presiding over the class action in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama. During January and
February, advertisements will appear in several hundred newspapers and magazines and the court-approved notice, as well as the settlement
agreement, will be posted on the internet at www.liggett.net .
- 01/07/99 MS: Tobacco money,
Medicaid reform top issues at health issues forum Mississippi Business Journal
- Issues ranging from the impact of
Medicaid reform on Mississippi to increased support for children's health insurance and trauma care will be discussed at the 1999 Health
Issues Forum Jan. 12 sponsored by the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA) and the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA).
Stump speeches by the top four candidates for governor will be included as part of the forum. The four candidates are Republicans Mike Parker
and Charlie Williams and Democrats MIKE MOORE and Ronnie Musgrove.
- 01/07/99 CT: Rep. GYLE of New Fairfield to take public health job AP
- State Rep. Norma Gyle of New
Fairfield has left office to become deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the agency announced Wednesday. Gyle said she
will help the agency develop anti-smoking programs. Connecticut is expected to receive $5.5 billion over the next 25 years to settle its lawsuit
against the tobacco industry.
- 01/08/99 KS: KANSAS to
get share of tobacco money Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Kansas will receive its first-year distribution of
$25 million from the tobacco lawsuit settlement as soon as the agreement is approved by 80 percent of the states, the attorney general's office
said Thursday. John Campbell, the senior deputy attorney general, said he was notified Monday that the four major tobacco companies involved
in the settlement agreement had deposited $2.4 billion into an escrow account Monday, with that amount to be spread among the various state
and territory accounts. . . Campbell said the lawsuits have been formally dismissed by the courts in 33 states, but he said he was uncertain how
many other states had achieved state specific finality.
- 01/08/99PA: Taking
the tobacco pact to court Philadelphia Inquirer
- The groups are seeking to intervene in the proposed settlement, which
Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher will ask Dauphin County Common Pleas Court Judge John W. Herron to approve today.
Hospitals and some health groups say they want to make sure the deal preserves their rights to sue. Other advocacy groups want to rewrite a
portion of the deal that they fear precludes their own litigation against tobacco companies. Either way, a lot is at stake
- 01/08/99 PA: Legal Challenge to
Tobacco Settlement to be Heard Tomorrow in Philadelphia PR Newswire
- The challenge is in the form of a Petition to
Intervene designed to preserve the right of tobacco control organizations to file public interest lawsuits against the tobacco companies and other
tobacco-related organizations. . . "The tobacco settlement would give the tobacco industry legal immunity for a broad range of past and future
misconduct," said Jeffrey Barg, a petitioner who is president of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Pennsylvania. "The attorney general may have
the right to give the tobacco industry immunity from lawsuits filed by the state . . . but he should not be granted the right to preclude lawsuits
filed by non-governmental public health organizations.
- 01/10/99 AG:
GEORGE AUTRY and FERREL GUILLORY: Now, revive N.C.'s tobacco counties Raleigh News & Observer
- With a flexible foundation as a resource, broker and knowledge base, a transition strategy would assist communities to strengthen
their capacity to meet the challenges of an economy in which brain power increasingly determines earnings power. If North Carolina is
indeed to serve as a benchmark and to bring the helicoaster in for as soft a landing as possible, the General Assembly will have to act
thoughtfully in crafting a foundation that can function as both a prudent and creative long-term catalyst for rural development.
- 1/10/99 AG: EDITORIAL: How to Spend Tobacco Funds Salt Lake (UT) Tribune
- Graham wants Utah's share of the 46-state national settlement with the tobacco companies to be spent on preventing and stopping tobacco use and advancing research into why young people start smoking. . . . But a number of not-for-profit agencies want a cut of the $800-plus million that will flow into Utah from the settlement -- and they want the money to be used for other than treating tobacco-related diseases, research on tobacco or preventing use of tobacco. That is simply an end run around the regular process of funding such programs through general state revenues or facing the rigors of raising such money in public. . . But money from the tobacco settlement was sought for other purposes -- and it is for those purposes that it should be used.
- 1/10/99 AG: KY: SYLVIA L. LOVELY: Cities, Towns Also Will Feel Impact Of Tobacco Deal Lexington (KY) Herald Leader
- Farmers and communities both have been overlooked in the settlement, and we must rectify that. We must push for community assistance in addition to assistance for Kentucky farmers, and not to replace assistance for farmers. As Kentuckians, this is a time for us to embrace and support both our farmers and our communities. But it will require all of us -- not only farmers or tobacco companies, not only smokers or non-smokers, not only rural communities or cities -- but all Kentuckians.
- 01/12/99 RI: Key leaders advise caution in dealing with surplus, tobacco settlement AP
- As for the
tobacco settlement, Martineau said some of the money should be used for taxpayer relief, although he favored no specific plan. Tobacco
payments will average $55 million in each of the next 25 years. Senate Majority Leader Paul Kelly, D-North Smithfield, supports Lt. Gov.
Charles Fogarty's proposal to invest a portion of the tobacco settlement in a trust fund that would yield cash, said Kelly's spokesman,
David Noble.
- 01/12/99 AR: BRYANT switches
rather than fight tobacco lawyers Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Monday, his last day in office, BRYANT signed a
motion acknowledging that the lawyers performed legal services for the state as attorneys of record, something he initially refused to
concede. Bryant's move allows the attorneys -- Steven CAULEY of Little Rock, Walter NIBLOCK of Fayetteville and the Milberg, Weiss,
Bershad, Hynes and Lerach firm of San Diego -- to collect a fee the attorneys estimate is between $4 million and $7 million. The
last-second concession from Bryant averts a threat by the attorneys to place a $243 million lien -- a contingency fee of 15 percent -- on the
state's settlement.
- 01/12/99 NY: Let Tobacco Bucks AidSchools: VALLONE New York Daily News
- Vallone aides said he
will make his proposal in his State of the City speech. Mayor Giuliani, whose support will be essential for Vallone's proposal to become
reality, reacted more with diplomacy than with support.
- 01/12/99 VALLONE Proposes Spending Tobacco Deal Money on Schools New York Times
- Vallone received tentative support yesterday from at least one fiscal monitor. Douglas A. Criscitello, the director of the city's Independent
Budget Office, said that given the city's rising debt, he was pleased that the plan would enable the city to pay for a project immediately, without the
need for borrowing money and accumulating debt. "Any proposal to fund critically needed capital projects on a pay-as-you-go basis should be
viewed as fiscally prudent," Criscitello said. "The city is in a quandary. It has these huge infrastructure needs, but it simply can't continue
borrowing more money." . . Diana Fortuna, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a government watchdog agency, was less receptive
to the plan. "The city is facing a $2 billion to $3 billion budget gap in the next two to three years, and no one has yet said how it's going to be
closed," she said.
- 01/12/99 Tobacco Money For Schools? Newsday
- Touching off a debate, City Council Speaker
Peter Vallone yesterday proposed reserving part of the city's windfall payments from a tobacco settlement for school repair and
construction.
- 01/11/99 NYC Council would use tobacco money for schools Reuters
- The New York City
Council Tuesday said the first $1.34 billion the city receives from the national tobacco settlement should be used to fix badly rundown
public schools and build new ones. City Council Speaker Peter Vallone said the first five years of tobacco payments, totaling $1.34
billion, would provide a healthy chunk of the $10.9 billion that the city schools chancellor has estimated is needed for rehabilitation,
construction, technology, and improving safety and accessibility over the next five years .
- 01/11/99 VT: A weekly perspective on Vermont affairs AP
- The state will also be seeing the first
payment in the tobacco settlement that is supposed to bring Vermont $800 million in the next 25 years. The state will have an extra $26.4
million in the coming fiscal year for health-related programs. The governor wants to use the money to expand the Vermont Health Access
Plan, increase payments for health care providers and support existing health care programs.
- 1/10/99 Tobacco Windfall Begins Tug-of-War Among Lawmakers New York Times
- While some elected officials are calling for the money to be spent on health care initiatives and anti-smoking campaigns, others are urging that it be used on projects unrelated to tobacco, including new schools or jails, and even sidewalk repair. Still other lawmakers say the tobacco windfall should be used to eliminate state debts or be given to taxpayers as rebates. Over the next 25 years, cigarette makers will pay almost $246 billion to all 50 states to settle lawsuits. Here are some proposals for spending the money in six states.
- 01/09/99 PA: Pa.
tobacco foes fault settlement Philadelphia Inquirer
- The arguments came in a hearing before Judge John W. Herron
in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, who will decide whether two petitions to intervene -- one by a group of hospitals and one by Ballard's
antitobacco groups -- are valid. Herron will also decide whether to approve Pennsylvania's portion of the settlement, a required blessing if the
overall $206 billion deal among the companies and 46 states is to move forward in Pennsylvania and ultimately nationwide.
- 01/08/99 LETTERS: When We Started Out, Joe Camel Was King The Wall Street Journal
- These
lawyers pursued novel legal theories, devoted years of their lives to the battle against the tobacco companies, and in the end received a
phenomenal result. . . If, as Prof. Brickman says, lawyers are not just businessmen, they also hold a public trust, does that mean that if
you are just a businessman you can get away with murder as long as you pay off your shareholders?
- 01/16/99 AR: Tobacco
industry refuses payment to private lawyers Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Tobacco companies are refusing to pay
private attorneys who claim to have performed legal work for Arkansas in the state's $1.62 billion settlement with the industry. The latest
move in the attorney fee war puts in limbo former Attorney General Winston BRYANT's agreement Monday to allow the attorneys to
collect fees from the industry, something he initially refused to do. In a motion filed late Friday in Pulaski County Chancery Court, tobacco
companies claim the attorneys should be paid with money the state received in the settlement.
- 01/16/99 KS: Panel
to plan use of tobacco funds Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Republican legislative leaders said
Friday they have appointed a special task force to recommend how the money should be spent. . . Gov. Bill Graves had recommended
in the budget he submitted to the Legislature on Tuesday that only 40 percent of the state's expected share be committed to programs
and proposed that $14.5 million of tobacco lawsuit settlement money be spent on an array of childrens' programs.
- 01/16/99 NC: Health
official seeks share of settlement Raleigh News & Observer
- Second-hand smoke is also a danger, he said,
stressing that asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease among children in the state and the leading cause of medical absenteeism from
school. McBride suggested a three-pronged approach to using the tobacco money: anti-smoking efforts, improving standards at local
public health departments and setting up what he called a "quasi-public" foundation to administer the funds. Maggie Dollar, president of
the N.C. Association of Local Health Directors, said her group backs using 50 percent of the money for public health efforts.
- 01/16/99 NC: Groups ask that deal aid health needs Winston-Salem Journal
- Health advocates told
members of a legislative panel yesterday that half -- and perhaps more -- of the $4.6 billion North Carolina receives from a nationwide
tobacco settlement over the next 25 years should go to health care and programs to prevent teen-age smoking. ''Currently in North Carolina,
20 percent of our deaths, or as many as 12,000 a year, are related to tobacco use,'' said Deborah Bryan of the American Lung Association,
who spoke on behalf of the state heart, lung, cancer and medical societies. ''To think of spending this money on anything but health and
tobacco control is hiding our heads in the sand,'' she said.
- 01/15/99 NM: Coalition Plans
for Tobacco Cash Albuquerque Journal
- Health advocates, weighing in on the nascent debate over what to do
with New Mexico's $1.2 billion portion of the deal, on Thursday urged that state lawmakers appropriate 65 percent of the money to
health programs.
- 01/15/99 CA: State
tobacco suit money may run dry, analyst says Capitol Alert (Sacramento, CA)
- The non-partisan legislative
analyst's office said there are several uncertainties that could reduce California's share of the payments from the $206 billion nationwide
settlement. They include a possible request for reimbursement by the federal government; the possible bankruptcy of one or more
tobacco companies; and a drop in cigarette sales. . . Given those uncertainties, the analyst's office recommended that the Legislature place
all tobacco settlement money in the state's general fund rather than earmark it for specific programs.
- 01/15/99 CO: New governor has new ideas Longmont (CO) Daily Times-Call
- Owens said a state
health-insurance program for children from low-income families could be expanded to cover 60,000 children, using part of the $2.7
billion that Colorado stands to get during the next 25 years as its share of a national settlement with the tobacco industry.
- 01/15/99 OK: State Must Wait to Spend Tobacco Settlement Money The Oklahoman
- At least 40 states
representing 80 percent of the nation's population must sign final consent decrees before any of the money can be released. Already, 39
states including Oklahoma have signed decrees, according to the National Association of Attorneys General.
- 01/14/99 VT: Groups lining up against administration's smoking spending AP
- There is some
general agreement in the Statehouse that the money should be spent on health care programs, but senators are concerned it might be
diverted to other uses or to free up money for other non-health care programs. So they're planning a resolution that would formally put
the administration on notice that that's how they want the money spent. Rep. Paul Poirier, the Health and Welfare Committee chairman,
said Wednesday he was planning to draw up a bill separate from the annual general fund budget that would essentially be a tobacco
settlement budget. That, too, would help to ensure that the money isn't used as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations.
- 01/14/99 NY: HEVESI Endorses Idea to Use Tobacco Settlement on N.Y.C. Capital Projects
(PAY-PER-VIEW) NewsEdge
- New York City should use its share of the multi-state tobacco settlement to fund
capital projects on a pay-as-you-go basis in lieu of bonds, city Comptroller ALAN G. HEVESI said yesterday. Hevesi's comments echoed a
proposal City Council Speaker PETER F. VALLONE formally announced yesterday in his State of the City address. . . "Using these funds
would save the city millions in bond-financing costs and would help lower the city's debt," Vallone said.
- 01/13/99 NY: Commission recommends
tobacco settlement money be used to curtail Newsday
- Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he did not plan to
challenge New York's portion of the national agreement as worked out by his Republican predecessor, Dennis Vacco. . . The report by the
Commission for a Healthy New York recommends that an independent body oversee $250 million in new programs annually to help
smokers quit and educate others about the dangers of tobacco use. The money should be used to fund community and school-based
programs and pay for anti-smoking advertising, as well as increased enforcement of existing laws, the panel recommended in the report
sent to Gov. George Pataki.
- 01/14/99 NY: NYC was "short-changed"
in tobacco payout - Hevesi Reuters
- New York City, which has just over two-thirds of the state's Medicaid
recipients, was "shortchanged'' by the state in the national settlement with tobacco companies to help pay for the costs of treating sick
smokers, the city comptroller said on Tuesday. "I continue to support the effort by Mayor (Rudolph) Giuliani to obtain for the city a
larger share of the tobacco funds that are earmarked for New York State,'' Hevesi said in prepared remarks.
- 01/15/99 PA:
Attorney general reveals wish list for Pa. tobacco funds Philadelphia Inquirer
- Beefing up the state's
Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for children of low-income families statewide. Increasing funding for
medical research, particularly for cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses. Increasing funding for programs that encourage people of
all ages to quit smoking, particularly community and school-based programs. Stepping up programs that help tobacco retailers limit
access to tobacco by young people
- 01/14/99 PA
Attorney General FISHER Recommends Spending Tobacco Recovery on Health Care Initiatives; Vows to Work With Governor and
General Assembly PR Newswire
- ``This is a significant amount of money that I believe should go toward
improving the health of Pennsylvanians,'' Fisher said. ``We should use this money to fund cancer research, offer health insurance to the
poor, keep kids from smoking and arrest those who sell tobacco products to our children.'' In a letter sent today to Gov. Tom Ridge and
General Assembly leaders, Fisher outlined his recommendations for the tobacco funds: Establish a Pennsylvania Tobacco Settlement
Advisory Panel. This oversight panel, comprised of government officials, health care professionals, public health experts and community
advocates, would advise the Governor and the General Assembly on the best use of tobacco funds.
- 01/14/99 PA: Judge OKs Pa. tobacco settlement AP/Philadelphia Daily News
- 01/14/99PA Attorney General Fisher Announces Approval of Tobacco Settlement PR Newswire
- Pennsylvania Attorney General MIKE FISHER today announced that Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge John W. Herron has approved
the historic settlement between Pennsylvania and the tobacco industry, a decision that, barring any appeals, will result in a recovery of $11.3
billion for the Commonwealth.
- 01/13/99 PA: Judge is pressed on tobacco settlement Philadelphia Inquirer
- PHILADELPHIA and
ALLEGHENY COUNTY spoke up for their rights to sue the nation's largest tobacco companies yesterday, telling a Common Pleas Court
judge that the nationwide tobacco settlement should not bar their way. . . Alice W. Ballard, an attorney for anti-tobacco activists, also
thought it a done deal. "The Attorney General looked him in the eye and said there's $11 billion at stake -- rejection would make him
very upopoular," she said.
- 01/06/99 PENNSYLVANIA INVERVENORS' BRIEF
- Petitioners seek to prevent a wholesale denial of due process to any and all who might bring public interest litigation against the tobacco companies in the future, whose efforts will be thwarted by the Master Settlement Agreement's attempt to stifle all such litigation. Intervention Petitioners do not seek to block the proposed settlement in this petition. They seek simply to be removed from its effects so that they are free to continue their work in pursuit of tobacco control.
- 01/14/99 ID: Governor wants new savings plan The Spokesman-Review
- A law that forces the state to
put millions into a savings account when it has a good year could be headed for changes. . . [Gov] KEMPTHORNE proposed beefing up
the so-called budget stabilization fund with tobacco settlement proceeds. Idaho stands to collect $32 million over the next year and a
half; Kempthorne proposed putting all that money into the fund. The plan startled some North Idaho legislators who thought tobacco
money should be directed to anti-smoking and health care programs.
- 01/14/99 VA: Gov. GILMORE: 'A Different Vision' of Government The Washington Post
- I'm submitting a bill
proposing that possible tobacco settlement money be placed in three funds. First, half of the money should be placed in a fund for
economic and agricultural development purposes, targeted at assistance for growers and workers hurt by the settlement. Second, a health
fund for children, community-based treatment for mental illness, long-term care and antismoking programs. Third, a fund that addresses
critical transportation and education infrastructure needs.
- 01/14/99 KS: Cybersession:
Future bright, Graves says Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- GRAVES proposed spending $14.6 million in tobacco
lawsuit settlement money on new or expanded children's programs, including $1 million for smoking prevention grants and $4 million for
delinquency prevention programs.
- 01/14/99 CT: Senate Democrats want to invest $5.5 billion tobacco settlement AP
- On
Wednesday, Democratic leaders of the Senate said they want to invest the money expected from the state's settlement with tobacco
companies. The interest earned on the investments would be used to pay for anti-smoking efforts and to reduce the state's debt. Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal and anti-smoking groups were scheduled to come out with another plan today. A task force appointed by
the governor also is coming up with proposals for the money.
- 01/13/99 CT: Conn. lawmakers map $5
bln tobacco proposal Reuters
- Connecticut Senate Democrats Wednesday unveiled a plan to use the state's
anticipated $5-billion settlement with the U.S. tobacco industry to reduce state debt and discourage smoking.
- 01/18/99 Tobacco Leaves WENTWORTH Interested (PAY-PER-VIEW)
Asset Sales Report via NewsEdge
- Philadelphia-based J.G. Wentworth is
taking a hard look at trying to securitize parts of last November's $206 billion settlement between tobacco companies and a handful of states.
And lawyers contacted by ASR say the settlement is ripe for structured finance. . . "Let's say the state of Texas over a period of years will
recover $17 billion. If they wanted it up front they could set up a trust. The state would get a discounted present value out of it and the
tobacco companies would pay into the trust, which would then pay out to the security holders. It's not any different from most
securitizations." . .
- 01/17/99 AUDIO:
Tobacco Settlement Dispute National Public Radio
- The Clinton administration -- and some health advocates --
say the U.S. government should get some of the money from the landmark agreement. But state leaders say that any payments from the
settlement belong to the states, since state attorneys general negotiated the deal with the tobacco industry. Hear more about the growing
dispute as NPR's Adam Hochberg reports for Weekend Edition Saturday.
- 01/17/99 KS:
GRAVES' plans fail to inspire lawmakers Wichita Eagle
- Graves has earmarked $14.6 million of
tobacco-settlement money to programs designed to help children. Democrats hit Graves on two sides of this issue. They said the financing
for these programs should come from state revenue and not rely on money from the lawsuit with Big Tobacco. Democrats also think the
money should go specifically for children's health programs. Under Graves' proposal, some of the funding would go toward programs
other than health, such as reducing juvenile delinquency.
- 01/17/99 Up in smoke; West Hollywood's prominent Marlboro Man to ride off Sunset come April Los
Angeles Times
- But the local favor the cowboy billboard has gained does not make it immune from last November's $206 billion settlement . . . Under that settlement, all tobacco billboards in California must be taken down by April 23. . . According to a spokesperson for Outdoor Systems, the local company that leases the billboard, Philip Morris will probably retain the billboard. "It will be another Philip Morris product that fits those dimensions, but a nontobacco product," said spokesperson Chris Massey, who added that Philip Morris owns the Kraft Co.
- 01/17/99ERIC FETTMANN:
The War On Big Tobacco: It Was The Money All Along New York Post
- As part of the settlement, the states
dropped their claims for reimbursement. The money instead will go into operating capital funds - meaning the states can spend it on
whatever they want. And school construction apparently pays better political dividends that Medicare. (President Clinton is even proposing
$40 billion in new cigarette taxes to pay for military spending.) And who pays the price? Smokers . . . Newsweek's Robert Samuelson
calls this "a reverse Robin Hood arrangement: It robs the poor to pay the rich." . . After 35 years, the only thing that can be said with any
certainty about the war on tobacco is that both sides are blowing smoke.
- 01/17/99 NC: DON
CARRINGTON: Point of View: Beware the pork-barrel panel... Raleigh News & Observer
- Although most proponents
of limited government and free markets despise the tobacco settlements, Easley's grab for a share of the settlement pie was probably a rational
"political" move given the national hysteria surrounding tobacco. But his plan to create a politically appointed panel to manage half of the
settlement funds amounts to more government nonsense -- taking advantage of this tremendous windfall to create the mother of all slush
funds.
- 01/17/99 NC: ADAM
O. GOLDSTEIN: Point of View: ...Above all, health Raleigh News & Observer
- The American public and the
citizens of North Carolina want sufficient money from the settlement to be devoted to tobacco control. Funds to help tobacco-dependent
communities lessen their institutional addiction to tobacco are reasonable. However, state officials must use an equal or greater amount of
funds from the tobacco settlement to reduce tobacco use among children, to promote protection from environmental tobacco smoke
exposure, to assist smokers in quitting smoking, and to develop strong, statewide community organizations that are working on reducing
the medical toll of tobacco use.
- 01/14/99 EDITORIAL: Snuffed out; Pennsylvanians deserved a full hearing on tobacco. Philadelphia Inquirer
- To the probable misfortune of Pennsylvanians, Common Pleas Court Judge John W. Herron made an expeditious decision
yesterday to deny very credible parties -- representing Allegheny County, 17 hospitals and public interest groups -- the right to challenge
parts of the $206 billion national settlement with the tobacco industry. . . The petitioners should waste no time in appealing Judge
Herron's decision.
- 01/15/99 AG: LETTER: Use
funds to stop teen smoking Anchorage Daily News
- I just finished a report for my sixth-grade health class on
the hazards of smoking. My research showed that more than 50 percent of teenagers smoke cigarettes annually. . . I urge everybody to
write his or her state legislator to recommend what the state spend the tobacco settlement money on.
- 01/20/99 KY: 4 hearings on tobacco Lexington Herald-Leader
- The state legislature's Tobacco Task Force will
hold public meetings in four Kentucky communities on how to spend money from the national tobacco settlement. Sen. Joey Pendleton, a
Hopkinsville Democrat and chairman of the task force, said state Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith and representatives from the
offices of Gov. Paul Patton and Attorney General Ben Chandler will attend the meetings.
- 01/20/99 NC: Tight grip on tobacco money urged Winston-Salem Journal
- The ultimate test of whether the settlement reduces teen-age smoking and eventually curbs health-care costs "will come when each state decides how it will appropriate these payments," said Seth Winick, the national director of state government relations for the American Cancer Society. . . Winick spoke to about 200 people at a North Carolina conference of public-health officials discussing the challenges of allocating the money. . . Mike Easley, North Carolina's attorney general, told the conference that half the state's $5 billion in settlement proceeds will be used to help wean tobacco-dependent communities from the crop by diversifying economic development, providing money to make up tax shortfalls for schools and other projects. The other half will go to public health to educate people about smoking and dealing with nicotine addiction.
- 01/19/99 States Divided On How To Use Settlement Money / Critics Say States Misallocating Tobacco Funds CBS
- When the states attorneys general announced last fall they had settled their lawsuits against Big Tobacco for $246 Billion the assumption
was that a big chunk of it would go for health care and an anti-smoking campaign aimed at kids. But now that the money is about to arrive some
lawmakers are thinking otherwise. Alabama, for example, wants to spend $85 million for programs like boot camp detention centers while in Los
Angeles the entire windfall of $300 million may go to repair sidewalks. People already know they shouldn't smoke, says Mayor Richard
Riordan.
- 01/19/99 NV: GUINN touts scholarship plan Las Vegas Review-Journal
- To a standing ovation by
legislators, Gov. Kenny Guinn proposed the creation of a "Millennium Scholarship" program that would guarantee every Nevada high
school student with a B average a $2,500-a-year, four-year scholarship to any state univer- sity. During his 61-minute State of the State
address, Guinn called for using the state's $48 million annual receipt of tobacco settlement money to set up the Millennium Scholarship
program.
- 01/18/99 NV: DEL PAPA: Hands off tobacco funds Las Vegas Sun
- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa
says she expects Gov. Kenny Guinn to refrain from spending the annual $48 million coming to the state from the national tobacco settlement
until arguments over distribution of the money are settled.
- 01/18/99 Tobacco-money Battle Is
Smoldering Columbus Dispatch
- The battle is starting over whether 46 states will be able to spend their tobacco
settlement as they want the next 25 years. In Ohio, $9.9 billion is at stake. Sen. George V. VOINOVICH, R-Ohio, will introduce a bill this week
to quash an expected Clinton administration attempt to control part of the overall $206 billion settlement won by Ohio and 45 other states.
- 01/19/99 CA: Last Camel takes its lumps San Francisco Chronicle
- That Camel billboard looming over the
Central Freeway has been painted over, by orders of the city. It was the last cigarette billboard in S.F. And all because of a one-man campaign by
JIM REID, who recently spent a month in city jail for defacing a cig billboard. [This graph only]
- 01/19/99 EDITORIAL: Up in smoke
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
- However, the Legislature should rule out any expansion of the state's $31
million-a-year tobacco control program, which is of unproven value at best and may even be doing more harm than good. . . Nor
should the money be wasted on inane research. . . In sum, the compensation money should be used to offset tobacco-related health
costs and, secondarily, to fund legitimate state health care expenditures.
- 01/19/99 EDITORIAL: Keep political hands off tobacco windfall Greensboro News & Record
- The
foundation is a sound idea that could easily turn sour in the absence of ground rules and responsible oversight. Easley suggests a board of 15
political appointees, five by the governor, five by each of the two legislative leaders. At its worst, this scheme could point toward a political
slush fund with $80 or $90 million a year to dispense and no accountability. One can easily imagine all manner of boondoggles resulting. . .
But if the end justifies the means, then there's nothing wrong with spending the money on public health, including smoking-prevention and
cessation programs.
- 01/19/99 HUMOR: Laugh Lines Los Angeles Times
- Burned: As part of the settlement of a
recent tobacco lawsuit, all cigarette ads must be removed from Times Square. "Don't worry, folks. It's still OK to smoke crack there."
(Conan O'Brien)
- 01/22/99 UT: Use
tobacco settlement to aid youths, Utah told Deseret News
- The Tobacco Prevention and Healthcare Alliance
was formed in December as a coalition of more than 70 health and anti-tobacco groups. Wednesday, it held a news conference to ask
that at least $13.6 million a year be used for prevention and smoking-cessation programs. It wants another $5.5 million of the settlement
money for the Children's Health Insurance Program. The rest of the funds would be used in other health programs across the state.
- 01/21/99 UT: Alliance Has
Plans for Tobacco-Settlement Money Salt Lake Tribune
- ``What is currently being done in Utah to decrease
tobacco use is not working,'' said George H. Cannon, president of the Utah Medical Association. ``Tobacco settlement funds should
only be used for the prevention of tobacco use.'' The new Tobacco Prevention and Healthcare Alliance is comprised of 70 public and
private health and tobacco-use prevention organizations in Utah, including Coalition for Tobacco-Free Utah and the Utah Hospitals and
Health Systems Association.
- 01/22/99 MA: Tobacco money eyed for health fund / CELLUCCI would not add to antismoking efforts The Boston
Globe
- If Governor Paul Cellucci gets his way, the state's $7.6 billion windfall from the national tobacco settlement will
go toward a health care trust fund for children, senior citizens, and those with the AIDS virus, instead of being used for smoking
prevention programs. Cellucci made the surprise announcement during a State House news conference yesterday. . . Antismoking
advocates in Massachusetts were scratching their heads as to why Cellucci set aside no additional money for smoking prevention.
Adding to their consternation, Cellucci is calling for a $500,000 study to determine the effectiveness of the Massachusetts Tobacco
Control Program.
- 01/22/99 OH: Ohio fights for
money Akron Beacon Journal
- Saying ``fair is fair,'' Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery was on
Capitol Hill yesterday backing an attempt by Sen. George Voinovich and others to block the federal government from taking part of the
$206 billion settlement 46 states won from U.S. tobacco companies last year.
- 01/22/99 KS: Fees
likely to exceed cap Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- The three law firms that represented Kansas in its lawsuit
against the tobacco companies probably will receive more than the $20 million cap the Legislature attempted to impose on their fees,
Attorney General Carla Stovall told a Senate committee Wednesday. Stovall said she has no idea how much in attorneys' fees the three
firms will receive, but assured the Senate Ways and Means Committee she will ask them what they got and then make that information
public.
- 01/22/99 AR: Use tobacco
settlement on health care, 4 urge Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Gov. Mike Huckabee, Attorney General Mark
Pryor and leaders of the state House and Senate urged Thursday that the money be spent on health care. Speaker of the House Bob
Johnson of Bigelow; Senate President Pro Tempore Jay Bradford of Pine Bluff; Huckabee and Pryor held a news conference to discuss
a bipartisan consensus on how to spend the money. Huckabee is a Republican. The others are Democrats. "There is a general
consensus that this money needs to be targeted toward the health care of Arkansas citizens and not become sort of a pile of money that
will become a free-for-all for any and all projects," Huckabee said.
- 01/21/99 LA: Louisiana Mulls Selling Tobacco Settlement to Pay Down Debt Bloomberg News
- Louisiana Governor Mike Foster is considering a plan to sell the state's anticipated share of the federal tobacco litigation settlement
to pay off some of the state's $3 billion of debt, the Bond Buyer reported.
- 01/21/99 LA: Foster,
Ieyoub differ on effect of U.S. suit Baton Rouge Advocate
- Gov. Mike Foster is fearful a Clinton
administration plan to sue tobacco companies to recover federal funds spent on tobacco-related illnesses might scuttle a deal already
struck with the states. But Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, who helped broker the states¹ deal, said Wednesday there¹s nothing to
worry about.
- 01/21/99 MA: Mass. vows to use
tobacco windfall for healthcare Reuters
- Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci on Thursday said he planned to
spend all of the Commonwealth's $7.6 billion from the tobacco settlement to improve healthcare for children, the elderly and the needy.
``Tobacco products have cost the state billions of dollars treating people harmed by nicotine,'' the Republican governor said. ``It's time
that tobacco funds go to saving lives.'' . . ``The trust fund will become a perpetual source of revenue for health care programs and will
guarantee the money is spent only on protecting and improving the public health,'' he said in a prepared statement.
- 01/21/99 AL: Alabama judge says he will not `rubber stamp' tobacco settlement AP
- Circuit
Judge Charles Price said the state's share of the national tobacco settlement -- about $3 billion over the next 25 years -- could be a bad
deal for Alabamians and he won't sign until he's sure it isn't. Price told state attorneys and attorneys for tobacco companies Wednesday
that he plans to hire three accounting firms and might want some assistance from a public health analyst before deciding whether to sign
the agreement. Price set a Feb. 26 hearing that he said could include testimony.
- 01/20/99 M0: Excerpts from Gov. Mel CARNAHAN's State of the State address St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Therefore, we need to set this money aside until we are confident that these funds are, in fact, available to Missouri. I ask you to
establish a Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund, pending the outcome of the litigation and other uncertainties. Its purpose will be to preserve
these funds for future investments to support anti-teen smoking initiatives and to improve the health and education of future generations
.
- 01/20/99 State of the State St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- But Gov. Mel Carnahan on Wednesday urged
that proceeds from the 25-year settlement be put into a trust fund and not touched until a series of lawsuits are settled. In his State of the
State address Wednesday, Carnahan said the settlement money eventually should be spent ``to support anti-teen smoking initiatives and
to improve the health and education of future generations.''
- 01/21/99 AZ: AT THE CAPITOL:
HULL opposes suit over tobacco funds Arizona Daily Star
- In a speech yesterday to the Arizona Association of
Counties, Gov. Jane HULL told elected officials to instead lobby lawmakers to accept her plan. She would give counties about 25 percent of the
approximately $100 million a year the state will get. Hull also warned that no one will get money as long as the case is stuck in court.
- 01/21/99 WA: Gregoire, other AGs fighting federal claim-jumpers in tobacco settlement AP
- But now federal government contends it's entitled by law to at least half the settlement, Gregoire said Wednesday as she prepared
to leave for Washington, D.C., to seek help from U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash. "I've been warned by the White House that the
president's budget will assume half of the money," she said. She called the maneuver "simply unfair" and potentially devastating to the
Washington state budget.
- 01/21/99 KS: Fees likely to
exceed cap Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- The three law firms that represented Kansas in its lawsuit against
the tobacco companies probably will receive more than the $20 million cap the Legislature attempted to impose on their fees, Attorney General
Carla Stovall told a Senate committee Wednesday. Stovall said she has no idea how much in attorneys' fees the three firms will receive, but
assured the Senate Ways and Means Committee she will ask them what they got and then make that information public.
- 01/21/99 VA: Tobacco
settlement cash could divide legislature Roanoke Times & World News
- Many state legislators agree that, when the
money comes, there may be enough to fund needed road projects such as a major upgrade of U.S. 58 across Virginia's southern border and
several improvements in traffic-congested Northern Virginia. However, Southside and Southwest Virginia legislators, who met for the
second time in a week Tuesday, are unanimously in favor of giving more than half of the settlement money to tobacco growers.
- 01/20/99 After The
Smoke Cleared: The Inside Story of Big Tobacco's $206 Billion Settlement Law News Network
- JOE RICE
watched the Washington debacle in dismay. Rice, a slick longhaired South Carolina plaintiffs lawyer, had been shuttling in and out of the
capital all spring, working ceaselessly for the passage of national tobacco legislation. A born dealmaker, Rice had been a key plaintiffs
negotiator of the settlement, and he knew the limits of the industry's flexibility. When Congress exceeded those limits, Rice's firm,
Charleston's Ness Motley Loadholt Richardson & Poole, was left with the unsettling prospect of having to try tobacco suits in dozens of
states. So Rice called his old pal MEYER KOPLOW.
- 01/22/99 EDITORIAL: Federal, state tangle over tobacco absurd San Antonio Express-News
- Texas
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and other senators are correct to offer legislation to block the bid to claim Medicaid funds. Justice should
add Medicaid costs to its suit against Big Tobacco. Let the states spend their well-earned cash. Otherwise, as one state attorney general
warned, the states will countersue Uncle Sam over the Medicaid claim. Ridiculous! That only helps one group. Yep, lawyers.
- 01/20/99 EDITORIAL: Not a pretty hindsight / Farmers beg because MCCONNELL helped kill tobacco bill Lexington Herald-Leader
- It's sadly evident that farmers lost big last June when the tobacco bill died in the U.S. Senate. Kentuckians should remember that one of the bill's proudest assassins was Sen. Mitch McConnell. As you may recall, the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. John McCain contained two competing provisions for farmers. But the Senate never picked one because McConnell & Co. killed the whole thing. . . The LEAF Act's $28.5 billion would have been 95 times the $300 million farmers now are being offered (along with the back of their hand) by the cigarette-makers. . . with friends like Mitch, farmers don't need enemies.
- 01/21/99 LETTER: Smoking
Affidavits? Salt Lake Tribune
- After she bewildered all who read her spaced-out suggestion that Republicans come to
her office and sign affidavits, our notoriously funny and partisan attorney general has now secured a historic tobacco deal with the big, evil
tobacco companies. I think she now needs to come off her high throne and make an effort to be straight with us by showing she has no
hypocrisy concerning the use of tobacco. Could she now report to the board of health and sign affidavits that she has never had any
inappropriate inhaling relationships with any of the products she so vigorously attacked in court, or, any other products that her president and
vice-president claimed to have smoked but never inhaled.
- 01/24/99 NC: State
lawmakers return, find work cut out for them Raleigh News & Observer
- "The main issue I think for folks in
health is going to be the tobacco money, simply because there's no money available elsewhere," Searing said. "The money really has
implications for improving people's lives."
- 01/24/99 NC:
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA: 1999 Raleigh News & Observer
- Prepare for a battle between health care
advocates and economic development proponents over how to divvy up North Carolina's share of the $4.6 billion national tobacco
settlement. Attorney General Mike Easley wants to use half of the money to provide economic help to tobacco-dependent communities.
Dennis McBride wants half for public health and anti-smoking campaigns.
- 01/24/99 NC: To lead, EASLEY says, state must be aggressive Fayetteville Observer & Times
- Easley,
considered a potential candidate for governor, spoke mostly about the state's share of a national tobacco settlement that was reached
last week. . . Easley said he hopes half of the money will go to the General Assembly, while the other half will go to tobacco
dependent communities.
- 01/24/99 NJ: Health Programs and Education Get Help in WHITMAN's Budget New York Times
- TOBACCO SETTLEMENT $36.4 million for increased costs in health benefits for state workers, $18.6 million for antismoking
campaigns and $9.7 million for mental health services for prison inmates.
- 01/24/99 NJ: WHITMAN wants tobacco money to pay for state workers' health insurance AP
- About a
third of New Jersey's first $93 million installment of a tobacco settlement would pay for health insurance for state workers, while 20
percent would fund smoking-related programs, state officials said on Saturday. Gov. Christie Whitman plans to ask lawmakers to
approve spending $36.4 million of the settlement - part of her proposed state budget - to finance routine increases in the cost of health
insurance for state employees, state Treasurer James DiEleuterio said.
- 01/24/99 NJ: Use of
tobacco suit funds criticized The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Governor Whitman's promise to spend "every penny"
of New Jersey's share of the historic tobacco settlement on public health and anti-smoking programs actually includes using more than
one-third of the first payment for state employees' health benefits. . . "The key point for us was that the nexus be health care," said John
Farmer, Whitman's chief counsel, explaining how the administration decided to spend the money. "In that universe of people [state
employees], a good number will be tobacco users. It is not disingenuous."
- 01/24/99 MD: Tobacco Settlement Meeting The Washington Post
- Maryland tobacco growers are
invited to a meeting about the recent litigation settlement between the state of Maryland and tobacco companies. The session is
sponsored by the Southern Maryland Tobacco Board and the Tobacco Committee of the Maryland Farm Bureau.
- 01/22/99 Senators Back GREGOIRE's Hands-off On Tobacco Funds The Spokesman-Review
- "The first time
one penny is deducted from any state, a lawsuit will be filed," Gregoire said at a morning news conference, where she was joined by
Sens. Slade GORTON, R-Wash., Kay Bailey HUTCHISON, R-Texas, and Bob GRAHAM, D-Fla. "Back off," said Gorton. "These people won
the money. Let them have the money and determine how to spend it for the people they represent."
- 01/23/99 Clinton
Stokes Big Tobacco Fire Again Raleigh News & Observer
- "I have made the decision, after looking at all the
information available, after going through the legal issues that are involved, that we can file a lawsuit," Attorney General Janet Reno said
this week. The day after Clinton's address, Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois sent Reno a detailed legal analysis laying the
groundwork for a federal suit.
- 01/22/99 NY: NY City unlikely to
securitize tobacco funds Reuters
- New York City, often an innovator in tax-exempt financing, is looking at a
number of financial plans that would let it tap the tobacco settlement early by issuing debt, a financial source said on Friday.
However, investment bankers that are working on ways of securitizing the $6.76 billion of money that the city now stands to get
from the state's portion of the $206 billion national settlement might be in for a disappointment. . . "The city comptroller does not
particularly cotton to the idea of adding more debt to what is currently out there," the financial source said. He declined to be named.
- 01/23/99 NY: Tobacco Appeals May Delay Funding Newsday
- New York City and two upstate counties
indicated Friday they will appeal the formula for divvying up the state's portion of the national tobacco settlement, freezing distribution
of the funds in New York State and slowing it down elsewhere in the country. . . But officials in New York City and in Erie and
Westchester Counties said they had filed notices of appeal Friday claiming that New York State was not giving them a fair cut of its
share of the settlement.
- 01/22/99 NY:
NYC asks court for more of state's tobacco pay-out Reuters
- New York City Friday took New York state to
court to get a bigger share of a $24 billion tobacco settlement on the grounds that upstate counties have fewer residents who need
healthcare, a city lawyer said. "We say that the settlement distribution is unfair because we're not getting back medical expenses for
tobacco-related illnesses," Lorna Goodman, senior assistant corporation counsel told Reuters in a telephone interview.
- 01/23/99 IN: BAYH says states should keep all tobacco money Evansville Courier
- Bayh, along with
Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, has thrown his support behind bipartisan legislation that would stop the federal
government from taking any of the money won in recent lawsuits by states against the tobacco industry. Leading the fight for this
legislation are Sens. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
- 01/23/99 MA: AG on honeymoon before picking spats The Boston Globe
- REILLY filled in a few
blanks yesterday during his speech to the business leaders. He thinks that Governor PAUL CELLUCCI is making a mistake by
seeking to use the $7.6-billion tobacco lawsuit proceeds for an array of health-care issues instead of focusing on antismoking
programs. [This graph only]
- 01/23/99 NJ:
N.J. aims to curb smoking Philadelphia Inquirer
- Swimming in dollars from the national tobacco lawsuit,
Gov. Whitman called for an aggressive antismoking program yesterday replete with addiction counseling for minorities and a new
media blitz at children. The $18.5 million for the program, which Whitman will propose formally Monday in her annual budget address,
would be a seven-fold increase over current spending. It would be among the most comprehensive in the country since the $206 billion
tobacco settlement was announced in November, according to the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
- 01/21/99 NJ: WHITMAN
weighs plan for tobacco money The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Governor Whitman will announce as soon as Monday
exactly how the state will spend more than $7 billion won recently in a settlement of a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the tobacco industry,
officials said Wednesday. Wendi Patella, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Whitman had held off spending the money until she could be
assured the federal government wouldn't try to lay claim to some of it. That concern was allayed when President Clinton announced as part of
his State of the Union message Tuesday night that the federal government would launch its own legal attack against cigarette makers.
- 01/22/99 NJ: New
Jersey Governor to Become First to Propose a Comprehensive Tobacco-Control Program Using Settlement Dollars PR
Newswire
- Today, Commissioner Len Fishman announced Governor WHITMAN's proposal to address the epidemic levels of
tobacco use in New Jersey. New Jersey Breathes -- the state's leading tobacco-control coalition -- praised Governor Whitman's dynamic
initiative and pledges to work closely with the Administration and legislature to implement the Governor's proposal. New Jersey now
becomes a leader in developing a model for the state and nation.
- 01/23/99 MT: Health
insurance called crucial for Montana youth Billings (MT) Gazette
- Helen Taff chose paying rent over taking
her 1-year-old son to the hospital for croup, but asked lawmakers Friday to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program for
Montana's working poor. Senate Majority Leader John Harp, R-Kalispell, is sponsoring Senate Bill 81, which would establish the
federal-state CHIP that will serve 10,000 uninsured Montana children. . . Funding for the $11.4 million CHIP is expected to come from
the settlement
- 01/23/99 KS:
Abortion, tobacco settlement funds hot topics Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Senate Minority Leader Anthony
Hensley said he was disappointed that Republicans had excluded Democrats on a task force formed to suggest ways to use the state's
share of a multi-state settlement with tobacco companies.
- 01/23/99 KS:
Group: Tobacco lawsuit money should go to states Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- Kansas law requires half of
its tobacco money to go to the children's health-care program fund. The other half is subject to discretionary appropriation by the
Legislature. John Campbell, senior deputy attorney general for Kansas, said in a telephone interview it should come as no surprise
Kansas will support the legislation that Hutchison will introduce.
- 01/23/99 IL: Attorney General: Half of tobacco money should go to new health programs St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- It might be a tough sell for Attorney General Jim Ryan's proposal to earmark half of Illinois' money from a
multistate tobacco settlement for public health programs. One lawmaker already has weighed in with his own bill, while Gov. George
Ryan and other state leaders say it's too early to talk about spending plans because the first check from the settlement is not due for
months.
- 01/23/99 IL:
Spend windfall on health: RYAN Daily Southtown
- Attorney General Jim Ryan wants half of the state's $9.1
windfall from the national tobacco lawsuit to go to health and anti-smoking programs ‹ and he wants legislation now to keep
Washington's hand out of Illinois' cookie jar.
- 01/22/99 Some Senators Vow Fight if U.S. Seeks Share of Tobacco Money New York Times
- "The
settlements belong to the states," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Ms. Hutchison has been one of the Senate's top recipients
of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry and has consistently voted with the industry, including a vote to kill last year's
major anti-tobacco legislation. . . They were joined by various state officials, including Christine Gregoire, attorney general of
Washington state, who said the states would countersue the federal government "the first time a penny is deducted" from the
states.
- 01/22/99 States
Gain Washington Allies in Battle Against White House for Tobacco Funds The Wall Street Journal
- Democratic Sen. Robert Graham of Florida and Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas appeared with state attorneys
general at a news conference to say they strongly believe states should keep the money, although some of it represents funding that
originally came from Washington in the form of Medicaid payments. "This settlement is totally derived by the efforts of the states,
which took substantial risks to litigate against the tobacco industry," Sen. Graham said. "The Clinton administration never helped."
- 01/22/99 Senators
Announce Efforts To Protect Tobacco Settlement Funds Naples Daily News
- Florida's Bob Graham and other
senators on Thursday announced a renewed effort to protect billions of dollars won through state tobacco settlements from the federal
government's claims to at least half of the money.
- 01/21/99 Tobacco Money May Not Go to D.C. AP
- A bipartisan group of senators today
promised legislation to block a federal effort to grab a share of the $246 billion in settlements reached by the states with the tobacco
industry. Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire said the states will sue the federal government "the first time a penny
is deducted" from the states.
- 01/21/99 States Say Tobacco Money Is Theirs AP
- Lawmakers and state attorneys general said
Thursday they would use both legislation and lawsuits to deny the federal government any part of the billions of dollars states won
from the tobacco industry. "We worked long and hard to get this money for our respective states. Fair is fair," Ohio's attorney general,
Betty Montgomery, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.
- 01/21/99 U.S. States Threaten to Sue Over Tobacco Funds (Update1) Bloomberg News
- All 50 states
are prepared to sue the federal government if the Clinton administration tries to claim any of the $206 billion the states won in a
settlement with the tobacco industry, Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire said.
- 01/25/99 LETTER: Federal government should quash effort to sue tobacco firms The Baltimore Sun
- Taxes on cigarettes should be raised, with a specific portion set aside to cover the estimated medical bills for smoking-related
illnesses. If smokers don't like it, they have a healthy alternative. They can quit.
- 01/24/99 EDITORIAL: Suing the Tobacco Companies The Washington Post
- This Congress will have
before it a lot of health care proposals. Most will have to do with insurance. They will be earnestly debated. But none can benefit public
health as these tobacco proposals. Public policy vis-a-vis tobacco ought to be toughened. If litigation can help produce the right result,
then file away.
- 01/24/99 U.S. Suit Likely To Keep Tobacco Stocks Down The Baltimore Sun
- What kind of
threat does federal litigation pose to the tobacco industry? How are tobacco companies likely to react? Can the industry sustain
another huge settlement and remain in business? [Opinions from Doug Cogan, IRRC; John Banzhaf; Jack Maxwell, Davenport &
Co.]
- 01/24/99 DAVID NYHAN: CELLUCCI's man more menacing than he knows The Boston Globe
- The ugly little episode of the public threat to Northeastern University by what the Globe refers to as "one top Cellucci aide"
raises the question of political thuggery . . .when Freeland announced Harshbarger would teach and work on the school's criminal
justice programs and the Tobacco Products Liability Project, it was considered a smart move by a school that's on the move. . . But
for the Cellucci crew to start mucking about with threats to important institutions at this level of pettiness raises unsettling questions
about how Cellucci will conduct his office for the next four years.
- 01/24/99 GEORGE F.
WILL: Cities' use of litigation is a misuse Deseret News
- The suits are extensions of the brazen cynicism of
the tobacco suits, which have successfully asserted, falsely, that cigarette smoking costs government money. (Not only are cigarettes the
world's most heavily taxed consumer good, governments also profit from smoking by the early deaths of smokers who do not collect
medical and pension entitlements.) The gun suits also mimic the tobacco suits in displacing responsibility.
- 01/22/99 KAUL: Some of this, some of that Des Moines Register
- And speaking about lawsuits, I'm a
little leery about the anti-tobacco suits the president announced the Justice Department is preparing. Lord knows, the tobacco companies
deserve what they get, but they have a perfect right to feel they're being picked on. What about the other scourges of humanity who cost
us billions in health care costs every year? Why not sue them for the damage they cause? What about candy manufacturers? Beef
producers? It's a slippery slope.
- 01/23/99 EDITORIAL: Make The Feds Prove Their Case Chicago Tribune
- The practice of training a
big governmental gun--or many small private ones--at an industry and winning a lawsuit by forcing it to settle has become sadly,
perniciously commonplace. . . Obviously, Big Tobacco has a heavier burden: It sells a product that has been proven noxious. But so
does the government: It has collected billions in tobacco taxes over the years and has even subsidized the industry. The merits of this
federal case are far from clear. So, Big Tobacco: Make 'em prove it.
- 01/22/99 EDITORIAL: Tobacco Battles, Rejoined Christian Science Monitor
- Most important, this move
by the administration, together with its pledge to seek a large increase in the federal tax on cigarettes, continues a needed battle. But the
legal and tax thrust must be joined to extensive educational efforts to cut youth smoking. Then the slavery to tobacco addiction will
decline even more over the long run.
- 01/22/99 EDITORIAL: They didn't inhale? National Post
- Indeed, a National Bureau of Economic
Research study by W. Kip Vicusi in the United States showed that when all costs and taxes were taken into account, each pack of
cigarettes consumed saved society 83¢ -- or $20-billion (U.S.) annually. . . Mr. Clinton's tobacco jihad, supported as it is by respectable
opinion, tells us modern society is threatened by far worse ills than tobacco. Demagogic contempt for truth is one; the loss of personal
responsibility another; and hunting for scapegoats a third. For practical purposes, the tobacco companies, though regarded as
omnipotently evil, no longer enjoy civil rights.
- 01/27/99 KY: Frankfort calls on burley
farmers Kentucky Post
- Tobacco farmers' opinions will be sought when a legislative task force goes out into the state this
week and next week to get ideas on how to spend Kentucky's share of the $206 billion settlement between the tobacco industry and the states.
Health-related groups have indicated they have a keen interest in how the money is spent, but some aren't quarreling with state Sen. Joey
Pendleton's plan to seek the opinions of farmers.
- 01/28/99KY: Tobacco deal cash ignites debate Lexington Herald-Leader
- As the debate begins over what to do with
Kentucky's tobacco money, the Governor's Commission on Family Farms wants a say in shaping the policy to spend it. ``We are a commission on
family farms, and the reason we have so many small family farms in Kentucky is tobacco,'' said Chairman Jim Naive, a Spencer County cattleman.
The commission formed a subcommittee yesterday to study how they might shape Kentucky's philosophy for dealing with the tobacco master
settlement and the trust fund companies are setting up for growers.
- 01/28/99LA: State senators
want schools to get tobacco money Baton Rouge Advocate
- Education leaders raved Wednesday after six senators
proposed dedicating half the state¹s $4.4 billion tobacco settlement to trust funds for each of Louisiana¹s 66 public school districts. But Gov. Mike
Foster and Attorney General Richard Ieyoub said deciding how to divide the money is premature because it¹s still unclear when or even how much
the state will receive from its legal deal with tobacco companies.
- 01/28/99 MA: Diversion of tobacco payment criticized The Boston Globe
- Governor Paul Cellucci's plan to divert
more than $100 million from the national tobacco settlement toward existing health programs was assailed by Senate President Thomas F.
Birmingham yesterday as ''sleight of hand'' that uses the windfall to subsidize half of the governor's hefty income-tax cut.
- 01/28/99MA: REILLY to get tough on Internet crimes The Boston Globe
- Reilly emphatically stated that the
proceeds should go solely to antismoking campaigns and treating smoking-related illnesses. ''The goal of the lawsuit was to prevent people from
smoking and recoup money spent on treating people who get sick from smoking,'' said Reilly. ''It's important not to lose sight of that. ... Everyone
is seeing this as a panacea for all kinds of things. I don't see it that way.'' Reilly said he saw an ''inherent conflict'' in the settlement: ''For states to
get what they're looking for, people are going to have to continue to smoke and get sick.''
- 01/28/99MT: Students put heat
on lawmakers over tobacco issue Billings (MT) Gazette
- Students put lawmakers on the hot seat Wednesday,
video-taping their opinions on how to spend the $832 million tobacco settlement. Roaming the Capitol's halls with cameras and microphones,
students from across Montana cornered legislators about how to divvy up the cash the state may receive over the next 27 years. Montana and 45
other states sued seven tobacco companies over health damages caused by tobacco use over the years. It's unclear when Montana will receive its
first payment.
- 01/28/99 NY: The dire rhetoric flies hot and
heavy over Pataki budget proposal Newsday
- Children will "get sick and prematurely die from tobacco use" if Pataki's
proposal to initially use most of the settlement money from tobacco companies for state debt reduction is approved by the Legislature, the Coalition
For a Healthy New York asserted. . . Democratic Assemblyman Richard Gottfried of Manhattan said the Medicaid and tobacco settlement
proposals would "devastate" health care in New York.
- 01/27/99NY Gov. Pataki Praised for Plan to Use Tobacco Funds for Debt Bloomberg News
- New York Gov. George Pataki was praised by credit analysts for a plan to use most of the money the state gets from a legal
settlement with tobacco companies to cut state borrowing.
- 01/27/99 NY: Gov Wants To Use Cig Deal to Whack State Debt New York Daily News
- But it was
declared dead on arrival in the Democrat-led Assembly and triggered only a lukewarm response from Republicans in the Senate, who hope to use a
portion of the 25-year settlement for tax cuts. "We will not allow the governor to sacrifice the scarred lungs of New Yorkers to further his national
political ambition by appealing to the right wing of the Republican Party," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). The debt
proposal also drew immediate criticism from advocates who hoped the lion's share of the $206 billion tobacco settlement would be used to curb
smoking.
- 01/27/99 NY: PATAKI moves to slow growth of debt Albany Times-Union
- Pataki proposed a five-year
plan to cut $4.7 billion from the projected growth of debt through March 31, 2004. He said the state would use cash more often, rather
than issuing bonds, for capital projects. As a result, the state would cut borrowing by 50 percent during the next five years. The key to
the plan, Pataki said, is use of anticipated proceeds from the state's share of the national settlement with tobacco companies.
- 01/27/99 NY: In Using Tobacco Cash, PATAKI Puts Debt Before Health Care New York Times
- Gov.
George E. Pa taki said Tuesday that for the next five years, New York State should use 75 percent of its share of the national tobacco
lawsuit settlement, or $1.5 billion, to help reduce state debt. . . His stance puts him starkly at odds with the Democrats who control the
State Assembly, and with health care advocates and leaders of the health care industry, who had hoped that most of the money would go
toward helping the uninsured and reducing the number of people who smoke.
- 01/27/99 PA: Pennsylvania
lawmakers debate what to do with their portion of the tobacco settlement MSNBC
- House Democrats in the
Pennsylvania General Assembly recommended Tuesday that the funds from the state¹s tobacco settlement be used for health coverage,
medical research, and anti-smoking education. Representative VIC LESCOVITZ stated, ³It¹s time to narrow the focus and target certain
areas of need to get the most bang for our tobacco buck.²
- 01/27/99 MA: MENINO has plan for tobacco funds The Boston Globe
- Mayor Thomas M.
Menino yesterday urged that 40 percent of the $7.6 billion the state has coming from the national tobacco settlement be given to
communities to distribute based on health needs.
- 01/27/99 MD: Tobacco growers seek a share The Baltimore Sun
- Southern Maryland tobacco
farmers are eyeing a sizable slice of the state's $4.2 billion settlement with cigarette manufacturers to help preserve an industry dating
back to shortly after the first settlers arrived on the Ark and the Dove at St. Clement's Island in 1634. About 500 growers from the
state's five tobacco-producing counties packed into the meeting hall at the Calvert County Fairgrounds Monday night and voted
overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to have the state compensate them for any financial losses resulting from a decline in leaf sales linked
to the settlement. "The growers want 15 to 25 percent of the settlement," said David L. Conrad, a University of Maryland tobacco
extension agent, who presided over the lively session, which ended at bedtime for most farmers.
- 01/27/99 KS:
Committee chair cautions against budgeting tobacco money too soon Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- The
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee says he is telling his budget review panels not to count on money from a national
tobacco settlement as they write the House version of the state budget. Rep. Phill Kline, R-Shawnee, said Tuesday he thinks it would be
too risky to include the state's share of the settlement because the payment might not arrive in the fiscal year that begins on July 1 and it
may be less than projected. Gov. Bill Graves built $14.6 million from the state's share of the tobacco settlement into his proposed
budget. He suggested spending it on children's programs.
- 01/26/99 MN: Happenings Tuesday at the Minnesota Capitol: TOBACCO MONEY Minneapolis Star
Tribune
- Gov. Jesse Ventura told hundreds of students and others gathered for a " Tobacco Prevention Day" rally that they
should take control of their own lives and not expect the government to fight their battles. " Guess what? It's your war. You are the ones
who have to fight it, " he said. " It's self-reliance." The Smoke Free 2000 Coalition wants 11 percent of Minnesota's tobacco settlement
to go toward prevention. Ventura didn't address the issue and said after the rally that he's not ready to talk about money until his budget
comes out later this week.
- 01/27/99 MN: VENTURA recalls a really tough fight: vs. tobacco use Minneapolis Star
Tribune
- But he told a group of schoolchildren Tuesday about one foe, the mere sight of which reduced him to sweating and
trembling -- smokeless tobacco. "I was addicted to Copenhagen for 14 or 15 years," he said at the Minnesota Smoke-Free Coalition's
"Tobacco Prevention Day at the Capitol." . . Tuesday's event was held partly to promote a proposal to put $655 million of the state's
$6.1 billion tobacco settlement into a permanent fund aimed at keeping kids from getting hooked. . . "It's your war," he told the youths.
"You are the ones who have to fight it. It comes down to young people not giving in to peer pressure and being self-reliant. . . . It is not
cool to smoke."
- 01/26/99 IL: Campaign
Urges Illinois Legislators to Spend Settlement Money on Tobacco Prevention PR Newswire
- A unified
Illinois public health community today urged the Illinois General Assembly to set aside a minimum of 50 percent of the state's share of
the historic tobacco settlement funds for tobacco prevention efforts. . . "Half for Health: Invest in Tobacco Prevention" is a campaign
being launched by nearly 100 of the state's major public health agencies, universities, voluntary health organizations and community
groups.
- 01/26/99 ND: Tobacco
for dikes? Grand Forks Herald
- The chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have
introduced a bill that would use tobacco settlement dollars to fund long-term state water projects. House Bill 1475 would divert 90
percent of North Dakota's approximately $717 million share of the tobacco settlement to the Resources and Common Schools trust
funds.
- 01/26/99 MO: Speaker wants special committee to oversee tobacco settlement proceeds St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
- Even though Missouri's $6.7 billion share of the national tobacco settlement is still tied up in court fights,
the House speaker has appointed a committee to come up with ways to spend it. The Senate's top leader said he has no plans to form a
similar committee in his chamber because the state can't count on any settlement money until the legal claims are resolved. All of this
reflects intense legislative interest in a settlement windfall to be paid over 25 years
- 01/26/99 NJ: Squabble
over tobacco windfall The Bergen (NJ) Record
- Whitman laid out a plan for spending the first installment of
the tobacco settlement, $93 million that will pay for programs ranging from an anti-smoking campaign to mental health services for
prisoners. The bulk of the money will go to pay increased costs of state workers' health benefits -- a proposal that drew flak from some
legislators and anti-tobacco advocates. The governor offered few details on how the state should spend future installments, saying
conceptually the state needs "to establish a framework that focuses on the health of our families, especially our children."
- 01/26/99 MT: COBB
wants to raise cigarette taxes if tobacco-suit funds don't materialize Billings (MT) Gazette
- Montana should have
a cigarette-tax increase ready to go because the state isn't likely to get the entire $832 million projected from the national tobacco lawsuit
settlement over the next 27 years, Rep. John Cobb, R-Augusta, said Monday. Cobb wants the Legislature to approve his House Bill 60,
which would raise Montana's cigarette tax to 23.5 cents on a pack of cigarettes from current 18 cents if the state doesn't get its $27 million
share of the settlement in 2001.
- 01/25/99 KS:
Tobacco-lawsuit details continue to dog Stovall Wichita Eagle
- Testifying before legislative committees last week
on Kansas' $1.5 billion share of the nationwide tobacco settlement, Stovall was peppered with questions about how much money her
hand-picked private attorneys will make for representing the state in the lawsuit. . . Stovall promised to make the amount public once it is
decided. But some lawmakers think that disclosure won't be possible because the settlement allows attorneys' fees to be kept secret. ' 'It's
going to be a lot of money," Stovall told the House Appropriations Committee.
- 01/25/99 AZ: Legislation puts
children at top of state's list The Arizona Republic
- "Certainly, the governor and some lawmakers are talking
about kids. However, so much of this is tied to the budget and the tobacco settlement, and all that's up in the air," said Carol Kamin,
executive director of the Children's Action Alliance, a non-profit advocacy group.
- 01/25/99 IL: Bill would allocate tobacco
settlement Chicago Sun-Times
- The federal government should not get any part of the $9.1 billion that Illinois won from the
tobacco industry, says Attorney General Jim Ryan, who will have legislation introduced this week to direct how the money should be used.
- 01/26/99 NY: Corrections New York Times
- An article on Monday about a consensus in
Albany to use some money from the settlement of the national tobacco lawsuit for health care for the uninsured misidentified a group
advocating a program called Family Health Plus. It is the Greater New York Hospital Association, not the New York Health and
Hospitals Corporation. [This graph only]
- 01/25/99 NY: weighs tobacco funds
for health care - paper Reuters
- New York State Gov. George Pataki and legislative leaders have reached a
consensus that some money from the national tobacco lawsuit settlement should be used to provide health care for the uninsured, the New
York Times reported Monday.
- 01/25/99 NY: Divvying a $25B Pie / Lawmakers vie over tobacco money's fate Newsday
- "When you say
$25 billion, your eyes bulge," said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, whose Republican predecessor, Dennis Vacco, helped
negotiate the deal. "When you break it down on an annual basis and put it in the context of the entire state budget, it's not the tidal wave of
cash that people may have expected." As a result, those involved in the debate say the fight over how to spend what money the state does
get will likely be intense in the next few months, with Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority
Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) each advancing plans.
- 01/25/99 NY: Plan to Use Tobacco Funds on Health Care Is Gaining New York Times
- Gov. George
E. Pataki and legislative leaders in Albany have reached a consensus that some of the money from the settlement of the national tobacco
lawsuit should be used to provide health care for New York State's swelling number of uninsured.. . Bruno said he thought 25 to 35
percent of the settlement money should go toward health care initiatives, with a large chunk reserved for dealing with the uninsured
- 01/25/99 MD: Farmers to boost legislative influence The Baltimore Sun
- the American Farm Bureau is
urging states to use 50 percent of the money to strengthen the agricultural economy. While most of Maryland's tobacco farmers are on the
Eastern Shore, the money could go to a broad base of farmers, said Valerie Connelly, the Maryland Farm Bureau director of government
relations.
- 01/24/99 States Fuming
Over Feds' Smoke $Ignals ; U.S. Eyeing Tobacco Cash New York Post
- [Note: Since it was first published
on Nov. 17, 1998, this exact same story has been reprinted in the Post 5 times]
- 01/26/99 JOSEPH A. CALIFANO JR.: Haven for the Children The Washington Post
- Each year 500,000
babies are born prenatally exposed to illicit drugs and usually alcohol and tobacco as well. . . In a society that last year spent more money
on cosmetic surgery, hairpieces and makeup for men than on child welfare services for children of substance-abusing parents, the answer is
a resounding yes. I nominate these children and their parents for first dibs on the burgeoning federal budget surplus and the money that the
states get from the tobacco settlement.
- 01/24/99 EDITORIAL: Get your own tobacco loot San Francisco Examiner
- The feds should restrain their
larcenous instincts and sue for a separate share of the tobacco industry's liability for public health costs.
- 01/30/99 NC: Tobacco
fund is raising questions Winston-Salem Journal
- Democrats in the N.C. Senate say they will agree to set up a
charitable foundation to receive half of the $4.6 billion North Carolina that will get under a nationwide tobacco settlement. But Republicans say
they're worried that with state political leaders appointing the foundation's board, it could be viewed as little more than a pot of money for pet
projects of the political elite.
- 01/29/99 Tobacco Institute Shuts Down The Washington Post
- But as of today, the Tobacco Institute, the
industry's trade group, will be no more. It is closing its offices at 1875 Eye St. NW for good--a symbol, the industry claimed yesterday, of
tobacco's efforts to show it has changed. "Of all the things that have been in Washington, what could be a more pronounced symbol of change
than closing the Tobacco Institute?" said Scott Williams, an industry spokesman. . . And by late last year, the industry decided as part of a
settlement with the states that the institute would fold Jan. 31. A Tobacco Institute receptionist said there was no one available to discuss the
demise of the association. Boxes of files could be seen ready to be removed from a nearby office.
- 01/30/99Big Tobacco isn't giving up its voice in Washington's halls of power St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- "If they're
willing to do all this rather than go to Congress, there may be a whole lot more than we're aware of," said Deborah Bryan, lobbyist for the American
Lung Association's N.C. chapter. "We'll watch closely that it doesn't resurface under another name." . . Bryan said the institute failed on one
important front in the tobacco fight: organizing grassroots groups of smokers to seek greater rights. "They tried," she said. "But the cause wasn't
one that could be well-promoted." Replied Singleton: "I can tell you flatly there are no plans to reformulate it."
- 01/29/99 CO: Groups urge voters
to make sure tobacco money goes to health Grand Junction (CO) Daily Sentinel
- Grand Valley tobacco opponents
moved Thursday to fend off any efforts to siphon tobacco settlement money into public works or other projects, urging voters to make sure the
Legislature spends the money on health or related matters. The Legislature should devote most of the $2.7 billion Colorado stands to receive over
the next 25 years to existing state and local programs and to anti-smoking programs, physicians and representatives of an array of health-related
organizations said.
- 01/28/99 SLF
Warns U.S. Mayors About 'Dangerous Path' of Lawsuits AgainstGun Manufacturers U.S. Newswire
- Southeastern
Legal Foundation (SLF) President Matthew J. Glavin today warned American mayors of their "dangerous path" in filing such "predatory
litigation." "Trial lawyers, fresh from feeding at the trough of the tobacco settlement are targeting the gun manufacturing industry as a potential
source of revenue for local governments," said Glavin. . . "We must eliminate the incentive for trial lawyers, who pocketed $30 billion from the
tobacco litigation and settlement, and we must eliminate the incentives for state governments who are looking for new sources of revenue," said
Glavin.
- 01/29/99 KS: GOP wary of
spending tobacco settlement on tax cuts Capital-Journal (Topeka, KS)
- A task force appointed to develop
recommendations on how the state should spend its share of the tobacco lawsuit settlement said Thursday that Republican legislators don't want
to use it to fund tax cuts. Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, a member of the task force, said upper chamber GOP leaders she has talked to are
"not much interested in tax cuts. I think tax cuts have been taken off the table." . . Adkins said the strongest consensus emerging from a House
GOP caucus Thursday morning was to not commit spending any of the tobacco lawsuit settlement until some money is actually received.
- 01/29/99 IL:
Settlement Debate Ignited Chicago Tribune
- Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan on Thursday called on the legislature to spend
at least half of the money on public health and, in particular, on children's health programs. A measure crafted by Ryan was filed in the Senate on
Thursday. But at the same time, other lawmakers have introduced their own versions of a tobacco settlement spending plan, which put public health
higher on the priority list.
- 01/29/99 UT: Senators Tell Washington
to Stay Out of States' $206 Billion Tobacco Deal Salt Lake Tribune
- Utah lawmakers have a message for Washington:
Keep your greedy mitts off our tobacco money. State senators Thursday gave unanimous preliminary approval to a resolution "urging the federal
government not to interfere" with states' $206 billion deal to settle lawsuits against major tobacco companies.
- 01/29/99 NY: NYC: Rudy Lays Out Budget With
$961m For His 5 Fields Of Dreams New York Post
- With the city approaching the borrowing limit set by the state,
Giuliani suggested selling $2.5 billion in bonds for school construction, using the tobacco money to back them up. Even Public Advocate Mark
Green, a persistent Giuliani critic, pronounced that proposal "a big step in the right direction."
- 01/28/99 NY: NYC budget expands tax cuts, but
little for rainy day Reuters
- The mayor wants to use a novel approach to finance $2.5 billion of that need by using
expected funds from a national tobacco settlement to back bonds. Although that would increase the city's debt burden, the idea is worthy of serious
consideration, Criscitello said. "The use of nonrecurring revenues to pay for some immediate needs seems to be a fiscally sound proposal.'
- 01/29/99 NY:
GIULIANI Sets Stage for Clash With PATAKI as He Offers Budget Plan New York Times
- The centerpiece of
Giuliani's spending plan was a proposal to build new schools using $2.5 billion of the city's anticipated share of the settlement with the tobacco
industry. The city is to receive $6.7 billion from the settlement, in installments over two decades. Giuliani said the city would borrow the money to
build the schools over the next three years, then pay off the debt with its annual payments from the tobacco industry.
- 01/27/99 NY: NYC mayor wants to use
tobacco funds for schools Reuters
- GIULIANI, who will unveil his preliminary financial plan for fiscal 2000
Thursday, would use the tobacco money on top of the school system's current $4 billion construction plan. "The city is going to be
making a historic contribution to that building program. In other words, we're going to put in more money than we ever have before,"
Giuliani said during a press conference Wednesday. The mayor's proposal comes after City Council Speaker PETER VALLONE called for
using the first five years of tobacco payments, totaling $1.34 billion, for schools.
- 01/28/99 New York Lawyers Say
Perjury in Civil Trial Shouldn't Lead to Impeachment Business Wire
- according to lawyers attending this year's annual
meeting of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). . . 3. Should lawyers' fees be restricted in mega-cases such as the recent tobacco
industry settlement? Yes - 61% No - 39%
- 01/28/99 MI: Engler: Give
$3,000 to students for college Detroit News
- Michigan should use its $8.1-billion tobacco settlement windfall to give
scholarships of up to $3,000 each to Michigan students, Gov. John Engler said Thursday. . . Engler's proposal met with enormous applause from
state legislators and others gathered in the state House chambers for his annual address
- 01/28/99 OR: Advocates urge lawmakers to provide health care for more children AP
- With advocates
warning that a declining number of Oregon children have access to doctors or health insurance, legislative leaders said Thursday they may set aside
a share of the national tobacco settlement to help. Lawmakers aren't sure how much the settlement will bring in. But Senate President Brady Adams
and House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass say they want interest from the funds, which they estimate will be between $5 and $10 million a biennium, to
be used for health-related programs.
- 01/28/99 NV: Nevada counties want a say in how tobacco settlement money is used Las Vegas Sun
- The Nevada
Association of Counties wants to be involved in decisions on how the state spends its cut of a billion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies.
"We want to be a part of the dialogue with the executive branch of government as well as with the Legislature," says NACO executive director Bob
Hadfield.
- 01/31/99 COALE/ROBERTS/TENET: A LOOK AT . . . Public Health And the Law: Voices: What Precedents Are We
Setting? The Washington Post
- COALE: Public health advocates have tried for years to topple the powerful gun and
tobacco industries and to raise public awareness, but they do not have the political strength and the resources to defeat them. Attorneys do. Only
courts can level the playing field. Even if the industries use their political muscle to end the litigation, our efforts will be worthwhile because we will
have sparked a debate. Debate brings compromise. . . . ROBERTS: he widespread resort to litigation in contemporary America represents a deep
democratic failure. Some district court judge in southern Texas sets public policy about tobacco, handguns or silicone breast implants only when the
people's duly chosen representatives have failed to deal with the issue. . . TERET: Some argue that legislation is the only proper, legal route for
protecting the public's health. But litigation is designed to remedy injustices, and there should be no question about the injustice of a product that
needlessly injures and kills tens of thousands.
- 01/31/99 JEFFREY ABRAMSON: A LOOK AT . . . Public Health And the Law: Where Do the Suits Stop? The
Washington Post
- "The only freedom which deserves the name," the political philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in the 19th century,
is one that leaves "each person as the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily or mental." . . It should take the kind of strong evidence
of irresponsible corporate citizenship available against the tobacco companies before public health advocates make similar litigation strikes
against hawkers of candy or coffee, makers of salt or seesaws. . . In settling the cases, the tobacco companies are gambling that enough people
will continue smoking enough cigarettes so that the companies can simply roll with the litigation punches, continuing to make a handsome profit
even after reimbursing billions of dollars to the states. If they win this gamble, the litigation-based strategy of public health advocates will have
won the battle but lost the smoking wars.
- 01/29/99 NY: EDITORIAL:
Windfall City New York Times
- Mayor Rudolph Giuliani . . . also wants to use money expected from the tobacco lawsuit
settlement as collateral for $2.5 billion in loans to build schools. Both steps raise questions that need to be analyzed thoroughly before the City
Council approves them. . . The Mayor has only three years left in office. But he has figured out a way to spend nearly all the money the city
expects over the next 20 years from tobacco companies. . . It would be more prudent to use the tobacco windfall as it comes in each year, and not
borrow against it in advance, as Council Speaker Peter Vallone has suggested.
- 01/29/99 MD: STEWART J. GREENEBAUM: Fighting cancer with tobacco money The Baltimore Sun
- MONEY
from the 50-state tobacco settlement provides an unprecedented opportunity for Maryland to boost funding for cancer research and treatment and
become a national model in caring for cancer patients. Indeed, Maryland is poised to become the country's premier center for cancer research and
treatment.
- 01/28/99 NY: EDITORIAL:
Mr. Pataki's Return to Austerity New York Times
- The Legislature must insure that any spending restraints do not
sacrifice physician training and health care for the needy. Cutbacks in these areas are especially unacceptable because the Governor wants to
use most of the money from settlement of the lawsuit against tobacco companies for long-term debt reduction instead of health programs, a
more appropriate recipient.
- 01/28/99 LETTER: Attorney's Fees Los Angeles Times
- Pinkerton warns that the legal principles
established in the states' tobacco settlement will allow lawyers to "reach deep into the pockets of every corporation in the country and
perhaps the world." What he doesn't say is that corporations that act responsibly toward their customers have nothing to fear. When
corporations, their executives and shareholders make billions, it's just business as usual.
- 01/26/99 EDITORIAL:
Tobacco turnaround Cincinnati Post
- Our hope, at any rate, is that the Clinton administration focuses now on
its own claims against the tobacco industry, and drops its misguided attempt to appropriate the state settlement funds.
This document's URL is: http://www.tobacco.org/News/9811agsettlement.html
*********************** - ©1998 Gene Borio, Tobacco BBS (212-982-4645). WebPage: http://www.tobacco.org).Original Tobacco BBS material may be reprinted in any non-commercial venue if accompanied by this credit
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