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Ohio has dismantled a foundation that paid for a statewide anti-smoking campaign, prompting the advertising agency that handled the account to lay off 27 employees May 5.
Northlich, Cincinnati, has handled the creative and media efforts for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation since 2002, winning a review against other shops in late 2007.
"It's a tragedy that such a successful program may not continue," Northlich CEO Kathy Selker said in a statement. "I can't begin to express the depth of the personal and professional commitments our people made. ... When you know that 40% fewer teens smoke today than when we began this program, you know we've made a true difference." . . .
In what The Columbus Dispatch called a "huge miscalculation," the foundation even tried to keep lawmakers' hands off the money by transferring the cash to the coffers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit based in Washington.
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Ohio's anti-tobacco foundation went away this week, but the struggle over its money did not end with a court hearing yesterday.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David W. Fais kept alive a lawsuit by the American Legacy Foundation, an anti-smoking group based in Washington, that claims $190 million of the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation's $270 million endowment. . . .
leaders of the Ohio foundation attempted to move the money to the American Legacy Foundation.
Lawyers for the national foundation persuaded Fais yesterday not to dismiss their case. The matter is scheduled to return to his court June 2-3.
The Ohio legislature is hoping a second time's the charm with an effort to secure more than $200 million from the state Tobacco Prevention Foundation for a jobs initiative.
Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday signed House Bill 544, introduced a week ago by Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark. The bill liquidates all $270 million of the foundation's funding and dissolves its board, allocating $230 million for a $1.57 billion state economic stimulus plan.
The remaining $40 million will be directed to the Ohio Department of Health to pay off the foundation's outstanding obligations and fund tobacco-cessation initiatives with what's left over.
Northlich, the downtown Cincinnati-based public relations, media and branding agency, said Monday it will lay off 27 people after it lost a key account, the state's Stand youth anti- tobacco campaign and OhioQuits cessation campaigns.
Ohio legislators last week moved to abolish the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, which funded the campaign.
The layoffs are split between Northlich's Columbus and Cincinnati offices. Northlich will employ 120, or 18.3 percent fewer people after the reconfiguration. . . . "It's a tragedy that such a successful program may not continue," Northlich CEO Kathy Selker said. The agency had a $13 million contract for this year for the campaign, which included billboards, television and Web advertising, public relations and grass-roots organizing.
The Stand strategy was to debunk myths among teens that "everyone" smokes
Shelly Kiser, advocate for the American Lung Association, stated she doesn't think the smoking ban has lowered liquor sales and that there may be an orchestrated campaign to allege receipts are off 30%. She further stated "hundreds and hundreds of studies" show there's no harm to liquor sales or the economy from smoking bans. It has become clear that smoking bans do harm Ohio business. When state government acknowledges that truth, anti-smoking advocates predictably cry "liar."
The smoking ban in Ohio is hurting businesses.
-- In 2006, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services projected a 10,000 job gain for the hospitality and leisure industry for 2007. The first 12 months of the smoking ban saw 5,400 lost jobs for that industry. . . .
"Ohio is not unique. Bar owners and clubs across the U.S. are crying foul. Pubs in Germany, Ireland, the UK are closing. Hospitality business owners in Germany are angry because they were told their pubs had nothing to fear from the smoking ban and how commercially successful bans have been in Ireland, the UK and the USA, where bars were allegedly teeming with 'new' customers," said Debi Kistner, Opponents of Ohio Bans.
The foundation that operated Ohio's anti-smoking programs is gone.
Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday, May 6, signed legislation, effective immediately, abolishing the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation and authorizing state Treasurer Richard Cordray to liquidate its $270 million in remaining funds -- with $230 million going to a new state jobs fund.
The remaining $40 million goes for the foundation's obligations, which will be taken over by the state Health Department. The foundation was created with money from Ohio's share of the national tobacco settlement.
Gov. Ted Strickland has signed a bill to strip the state's tobacco prevention foundation of its funds.
The bill was a response to a lawsuit by the foundation to stop the state from using the majority of its funds as part of an economic package to create jobs. It was passed Tuesday by the Senate before receiving the governor's signature.
The bill enables the state to transfer $40 million from the foundation to the Ohio Department of Health, which will take over the foundation's anti-tobacco efforts.
Like counterparts in the bar business, fraternal and veterans club managers say the statewide smoking ban that began a year ago has had varied effects on their business.
"We probably went down initially 60 percent and we're probably still off 40 percent from where we were," said American Veterans Post 21 Canteen Manager Pat Enck.
Bingo tickets are the only things keeping the doors open, he said.
But at American Legion Post 3, Canteen Manager Kelley Zehender said, "We're starting to adjust."
With too few health department inspectors to keep up with the complaints, bar owners have low odds of actually being fined.
In contrast, there's only one reason why Ohio bar owners should enforce the smoking ban:
It's the law. . . .
Since Ohio's ban, more than 180 restaurants in Northern Kentucky have voluntarily gone smoke-free. Further, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce supports a smoking ban like that of Ohio.
It's true that, in Ohio, health departments have not been able to keep up with the flood of complaints about violations. Perhaps state officials could use the last of the dwindling funds from the tobacco settlement to pay for more enforcement.
In the meantime, the most responsible step for bar owners is to uniformly obey the law as it now stands, whether they eventually decide to again bring the matter before voters or not.
A year after Ohio banned smoking in most workplaces, many businesses are pursuing a loftier goal -- smoke-free workers.
Getting employees to give up nicotine can help businesses reduce health-care costs and increase productivity.
"The healthier you are, the less ill you are going to be and the less health care you are going to need," said Kathleen Herath, vice president for health and productivity for Nationwide Insurance, which offers smoking-cessation programs for employees and family members.
About 40 percent of companies offer programs to help employees kick the habit
It's been almost a year since health departments in Ohio started enforcing the smoking ban for businesses, such as bars and restaurants.
Some people thought it was great to enjoy their meals without inhaling smoke at the same time.
"As far as smoking in a restaurant, I'd rather eat without smoking, sure. It makes your food taste better," said Ken Atkins of Steubenville.
The ban is still a hot debate because not everyone agrees with it.
Northlich acknowledged this morning that the downtown Cincinnati-based public relations, media and branding agency will lay off 27 people due to recent legislation that abolished the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation.
All of the people who are losing jobs worked on Northlich's stand youth anti-tobacco campaign and OhioQuits cessation campaigns.
"It's a tragedy that such a successful program may not continue,"
The state is smoking out Ohio smokers who evaded cigarette taxes by shopping online between July and March.
Nearly 5,500 buyers should expect a bill for unpaid excise and use taxes on cigarettes purchased during that nine-month period, the Ohio Department of Taxation announced Monday. The combined tab? More than $2.15 million, including nearly $370,000 owed to Cuyahoga County.
The largest bill - $2,700 - belongs to a Huron County resident who bought 2,160 packs from out-of-state Internet vendors. Most bills are less than $600. They must be paid within 30 days, according to the department, which did not release names.
"If people bought online to avoid taxes," state spokesman Mike McKinney said, "they're going to be disappointed."
If you have gone online thinking you were cheating the system and bypassing the state's cigarette tax, you could be in for a surprise when a bill for those state taxes shows up in your mailbox.
Peter Wong buys his cigarettes at the same place as many smokers. "I buy them in a gas station or somewhere like that," he says.
Mark Overton smokes as well. "(Cigarettes) are exceedingly getting more and more expensive," he says.
Ohio is hoping to recover more than $2 million by going after smokers who bought cheap cigarettes online.
The state is sending out 5,500 bills to folks who've bought their smokes from web sites hoping to avoid paying taxes.
Ohio law requires cigarettes to be purchased face-to-face. Technically, that makes the web sales illegal.