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
  • 4/29/99 THE AFTERMATH OF THE STATES¹ TOBACCO SETTLEMENT: A MID-TERM REPORT CARD
      A RECORD OF PROMISES BROKEN AND AN OPPORTUNITY LOST A Report by the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS and the American Heart Association

  • 2/16/99 Frequently Asked Questions about the Tobacco Settlement National Conference of State Legislatures

  • Tobacco Settlement Association Of State and Territorial Health Officials
      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)
  • 02/99The Tobacco Settlement: An opportunity for states to promote thehealth, education, and welfare of their citizens National Governors' Association
      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.

  • 7/14/99 Tobacco Resolution.com The industry's original site redirects you to Tobacco Archives.com for "secret" documents . But the below links stil are good:
  • 2/10/99 Tobacco Settlement Funds: State Updates The Center for Social Gerontology is keeping track state-by-state, with a focus on the elderly
  • 10/16/98 CRS: The Tobacco Settlement: Issues Congressional Research Service
  • 11/18/98 AG: The AG Settlement: Short on Time and Money, Long on Loopholes Critical analysis from the Tobacco Control Resource Center
  • State Tobacco Information Center (STIC) State Suit Summary
  • November elections AG List from Bill Godshall
  • 11/16/98 Transcript of CLINTON Remarks on Tobacco Settlement U.S. Newswire
  • AG Settlement News Archive, November, 1998 Tobacco BBS
  • 1/18/99 CA: THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT: WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR CALIFORNIA?
  • 3/15/99 OHIO Tobacco Settlement Page
  • <1/10/00> PA: Robert Sklaroff's Page Pennsylvania's settlement protestor.

    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.
      Here's The Proposal

    • 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
    • 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