Washington State Tobacco Settlement

Tobacco Money Goes Up In Smoke

Only five cents out of every dollar of the tobacco settlement that Washington state will receive in this biennium will actually go into a smoking cessation program. No money is going back to reimburse the taxpayers who paid the medicaid bill for smoking-related illnesses. No money is going to those who were allegedly harmed by smoking. As it turns out, the tobacco settlement is being spent to promote bigger government.

When our state filed the tobacco lawsuit in 1996, it asked the tobacco companies to fund public education campaigns and smoking cessation programs. The court was also asked to order the tobacco companies to reimburse the state for various health care costs from tobacco-related medical problems. Attorney General Christine Gregoire said that the point of the lawsuit was to curb smoking, especially by youths; but this is an empty promise.

Washington state expects to receive $323 million as part of the national tobacco settlement in this biennium. When this money comes into the state, it goes into the Tobacco Settlement Account. Last year, the legislature transferred $100 million to a Tobacco Prevention and Control Account; of this $100 million, $620,000 was spent on developing a tobacco control program. The remaining balance of $223 million was transferred to the Health Services Account.

This year (2000), $15 million of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Account was authorized for spending on implementation of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Plan. (Note: The Department of Health said this plan would cost $26 million during 2001, and $52 million in subsequent bienniums.) The other $85 million is still in the account waiting to be appropriated.

What happens to the $223 million in the Health Services Account? The money gets mixed with other revenues, so it's impossible to tell exactly how much is being spent on which programs. The majority of expenditures out of the Health Services Account this biennium will pay for the following:

• Health Care Authority BHP Premiums $389.8 million
• Health Care Authority BHP Administration $24.2 million
• Medicaid for Children under 200% of Poverty $353.1 million
• Pro-share Payments $112.9 million
• Public Hospital DSH Payments $14.8 million
• Health Department Projects $12.2 million
• Public Health I-695 Transfer $33.2 million

Prepared by Bob Williams, Senior Research Analyst, (360) 956-3482 or effwa@effwa.org

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org