Subject:
        Allentown Morning Call on Settlement
   Date:
        Tue, 28 Dec 1999 17:39:09 -0500
   From:
        smokefree <SMOKEFREE@compuserve.com>
     To:
        Bill Godshall <bill@smokescreen.org>
 
 
 

EDITORIAL: Don't Let PA. Tobacco Funds Go Up In Smoke

The Morning Call, Monday, 12/27/99
Page: A10

The state Supreme Court gave Pennsylvanians a very important
holiday gift last week -- one that could lead to healthier lives. The
court cleared the way for the state to receive payments under the
$206 billion national tobacco settlement by dismissing the last
legal challenge to the deal.

Pennsylvania stands to receive as much as $11.3 billion under
the settlement. Atty. Gen. Mike Fisher estimated the first payment
should come to $266 million. The money will go into the state
general fund until lawmakers can fashion a plan to use the money.

Montgomery County oncologist Dr. Robert Sklaroff had sued the
state to force Atty. Gen. Fisher to stipulate that the national
agreement didn't protect the tobacco companies from private
lawsuits. The attorney general has claimed this wouldn't be the
case. Two lower courts tossed out Dr. Sklaroff's suit and the
Supreme Court has upheld those decisions.

However, it isn't just the right for individuals to sue that Dr.
Sklaroff was trying to defend. The cancer specialist is also
skeptical that the money will combat smoking. `There's no
formal commitment in the master settlement that these monies
will go to public health, let alone tobacco control,` he said
earlier this year.

On this count, the doctor has a valid point. How the money is
spent depends on the plans laid by lawmakers in Harrisburg.
In anticipation of receiving the windfall -- which could amount
to as much as $450 million a year for the next 25 years -- state
officials held hearings earlier this year to find out what the
public thinks. However, no formal plan for using the money
has been proposed. The General Assembly is expected to
turn its attention to how to use the windfall when it reconvenes
late next month. Gov. Tom Ridge is expect to offer his blueprint
in February.

Nearly half a billion dollars a year provides a lot of temptation to
use the money for expedient political needs rather than for public
health. But state Treasurer Barbara Hafer points out, `tobacco
addiction is the leading public health problem we face in
Pennsylvania. Our smoking-related expenditures for Medicaid
exceed $600 million per year.`

And there is another kicker: Fine print in the tobacco settlement
decreases the payments to the states if tobacco sales decrease.
In other words, if efforts to improve public health work, the windfall
will steadily shrink. This makes it all the more important for state
lawmakers to fashion a strategy for this money that will put it to the
most effective use in reducing Pennsylvanians' dependency on
tobacco.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sklaroff says he hasn't given up the fight. If he can
get help, he plans to continue to challenge the national settlement
in the U.S. Supreme Court. The irony then could be that he would
become an ally of the tobacco companies.

The state Supreme Court gave Pennsylvanians a very important
holiday gift last week -- one that could lead to healthier lives. The
court cleared the way for the state to receive payments under the
$206 billion national tobacco settlement by dismissing the last
legal challenge to the deal.

If efforts to improve public health work, the windfall will steadily
shrink.