KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, Feb. 19
The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear Tuesday a bill that would direct additional funds from the master settlement between tobacco companies and states to tobacco prevention, control, and cessation programs.
Senate Bill 318 would increase funding for prevention programs in Kansas by an additional $15 to $16 million per year.
The state”s award from the Master Settlement Agreement, the 1998 settlement between tobacco companies and states to reimburse them for medical costs attributed to smoking, will increase beginning in April 2008. Senate Bill 318 requires that the additional funds be used exclusively for smoking prevention and cessation programs.
The state receives about $50 million each year from the MSA. Most of the funds are used to pay for social and health services for children; $1 million is allocated for smoking cessation and prevention.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Kansas spend about $18 million each year on those programs.
The hearing will begin at 10:30 Tuesday in room 123-S at the Statehouse.