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Budget News: Legislature "Redirects" Settlement Funds, Cigarette Taxes
The debate is over. On June 21, Ohio lawmakers approved a two-year budget which allocates all new tobacco settlement funds - an estimated $216 million over the next two years - for Governor Bob Taft's school-facilities construction program. House and Senate members also voted to increase taxes on cigarettes from 55¢ to $1.25 a pack, but, again, earmarked these additional funds for non-smoking-related uses.

When the state first received tobacco master settlement money in 2000, the Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF) established a trust fund, which now contains about $300 million. However, in the last three years, legislators have redirected more than $350 million from the foundation, which they have agreed to pay back in 10 years.

While the diversion of funding is disappointing, the Ohio General Assembly's support of the 70¢ cigarette tax increase is great news and another important deterrent to smoking. In fact, according to the Ohio Partnership for Prevention, a tax boost like this could help more than 200,000 Ohioans live healthier, tobacco-free lives.

- 133,000 fewer Ohio kids will become addicted to tobacco.
- 40,000 of those teens will not die early from tobacco use.
- 82,000 Ohio adult smokers will decide to quit.
- 18,000 of those will avoid an early death from a tobacco-related illness.

Beyond advocating the cigarette tax increase, the TUPCF has been writing state leaders to stress the importance of increasing taxes on other tobacco products (OTP) as well. This is especially important now, because research has shown that when smokeless tobacco is substantially cheaper than cigarettes, youth will substitute smokeless tobacco for cigarettes. Raising the OPT tax would not only bring the state additional revenue, it's simply the right thing to do for Ohio kids.

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