Let's fool the public

Watch out for letters from people you don't know.

It wasn't very clever, but apparently a tobacco lobbyist thought he could get by with writing a letter over the signature of a teacher to oppose Measure 50 in Oregon. The proposed legislation would increase cigarette taxes to pay for tobacco education programs and help fund children's health care.

The letter was supposedly from a first-grade teacher in Salem, but the return address turned out to be the office of Mark Nelson, a lobbyist for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco.

Read the whole story on KATU TV's web page.

How Idaho's tobacco settlement money is being managed

A total of $790 million is expected to be allocated to Idaho for the first 25 years of the tobacco settlement beginning in 1994. That comes to $3.16 million per year.

Highlights:

2000. The state legislature created a "Millennium Fund" to "receive, invest and disburse funds received" by Idaho under the settlement. Each fiscal year five percent of the fund's current market value is subject to appropriation by the legislature.

2002. An oversight committee was set up with five senators and five representatives to review grant applications and issue recommendations to the legislature.

2006. The state constitution was amended to set up a permanent Millennium Endowment Fund, with 80 percent of the tobacco money going to the newly created fund and 20 percent to the existing fund.

Acknowledging that the federal law resulting from the tobacco settlement does not specify how the funds will be used, the Millennium Endowment Fund committee "has chosen to only consider applications for programs and projects directly related to one or more of the following: (1) tobacco cessation or prevention; (2) substance abuse cessation or prevention; or (3) tobacco or substance abuse related disease treatment. In addition, the committee has determined that funds may not be used for permanent capital improvements or organizational start-up costs."

The budget report lists projects that are hoping to receive tobacco settlement funds from the legislature in 2008, including the following:

• $94,000: Idaho State Police for youth tobacco investigations
• $270,000 (per year): Idaho Supreme Court for community-based juvenile prevention and intervention programs
• $500,000: Public Health Districts on tobacco cessation programs and information for adolescents and the general public
• $500,000: Department of Health and Welfare for an anti-tobacco media campaign
  
• $22,500: All Things New, a faith-based organization dealing with substance abuse
  
• $82,100: American Lung Association for Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U.)
• $49,100: Benewah Medical Center, to expand "How's Your Heart" program to include more tobacco education
  
• $73,700: Boys and Girls Clubs of Idaho for Positive Action, a tobacco-prevention program
• $154,000: Community Council of Idaho (formerly Idaho Migrant Council), to help prevent substance abuse in southern Idaho
• $164,000: Family Care Center, to include tobacco cessation in its health programs
• $147,100: Idaho Drug Free Youth, Inc. to develop ParenTeen PowerLines,
  a parent and teen prevention education program
  
• $71,000: Miracle Valley Ministry Center, to expand current services to include tobacco prevention

Only the first four of these projects has received a recommendation by the Governor as of this summer.

Where has all the money gone?

Why stop kids from smoking when we can spend the money from the country's tobacco settlement somewhere else? Or save it for a rainy day?

The American Lung Association says that the Idaho legislature has "raided" the Millennium fund by zeroing out the balance in 2003 to take care of a budget deficit. Now, the association reports, the fund is slowly rebuilding.

In fiscal year 2007 the fund allocated $1.275 million from the fund, including $78,000 for the lung association's Teens Against Tobacco Use program.

Here's the report by The American Lung Association.

The reality is that less than 5 percent of the money in Idaho's fund has been used for anything even remotely resembling a tobacco education program.

A friend of tobacco falters

Getting himself arrested for lewd activities in a restroom wasn't very smart. Senator Larry Craig should be so embarrassed that he will do the manly thing and withdraw from public service. Opposing tobacco reforms was equally irresponsible. How about a 25% rating from the ACLU for his anti civil rights voting record? Or his 91% rating from the US Chamber of Commerce for being pro-business?

What is "The Millennium Fund?"

According to information on the website posted by the Idaho State Treasurer's Office to explain the Millennium fund, here's what it is:

1. It is an endowment fund.
2. It has authority to receive, invest, and disburse funds.
   
3. The source of the money is the "master settlement agreement."
   
4. The "master settlement agreement" resulted from a successful class-action lawsuit by states against tobacco companies for marketing cigarettes directly to underage persons.
5. Each year the states receive money from this settlement.
6. The money is earmarked to help underage Idaho residents choose not to use tobacco, and to help educate about the dangers of tobacco.

If you saw the statement with these points, would you assume that the money is supposed to be spent for the purpose detailed in #6, above? Or would you assume that the money is freely available for legislators to appropriate as they see fit with or without any connection to the use of tobacco?

I need to hear from you. Check out the pages. Get the facts. Share. Post your comment.

jg

The tobacco settlement of all time

Remember 1988?

That was the year when 46 states plus the District of Columbia were told they would be receiving a total of about $250 billion over the next 25 years. The money comes from the settlement the courts determined should be paid by tobacco companies to sponsor tobacco education and reduce the rate of smoking.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) made recommendations for the amount of money that should be allocated to each state to spend on tobacco education programs.

The latest statistical report shows that Idaho is near the bottom of the list when it comes to spending the settlement money on promoting non-smoking. Only 12 states were lower, but Idaho did report spending 8.2 percent of the state's allotment in the fiscal year ending in 2007. That's better than five states (Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Tennessee) who spent nothing at all of the money that was given to the states to encourage a smoke-free lifestyle for children and adolescents.

Ironically, Mississippi was heralded as the star of the program for the first years of its existence. The poverty-ridden state actually met the CDC's recommended spending allotment--until last year. That's when Governor Haley Barbour began lobbying furiously to sidestep the program. His former job as a tobacco lobbyist obviously had something to do with his pro-tobacco campaign.

Is your sense of justice stirred by this? What can you do? What should all of us do?

Tobacco Boondoggle in Idaho

How about this? The government hands Idaho millions of dollars from tobacco companies with very few restrictions. It's supposed to help our kids choose not to smoke. Less than 4% of the money allocated to Idaho actually got spent in some small way to help educate children and adolescents about how tobacco and nicotine can wreck their lives.

Marijuana, now that's something we can afford to eliminate. Earlier this month the state sent 22 law enforcement officers to Boise County, a tree-covered scenic bit of mountains to a place where they'd heard there was a marijuana crop about to go to market. They were sure that the 2,600 plants they captured from three surprised Hispanic men had a street value of about $6.6 million. Maybe. A friend of mine in California said the top value of any marijuana bust is about 10 percent of the value reported to the news media. If that's the case, maybe it was $600,000 or so.

I'm not advocating marijuana! I've never touched the stuff and plan to live the rest of my life without doing so. I've never smoked a cigarette, either.

But that doesn't keep me from being furious with our short-sighted legislators who didn't think tobacco was a big enough problem to worry about. "If it's bad for them, they can quit" is a common comment.

Keep up with me on this. I'll tell you where the money went. I'll tell you what our leading business executives think about the anti-smoking campaign. I'll share with you the glee that the tobacco companies feel when states like Idaho throw money out the window instead of helping kids learn why cigarettes are bad for them.

Jump in. We need you.

jg