Senate Bill sb2462
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SR 2462
By Senator Miller
18-1967-04
1 Senate Resolution No. ____
2 A resolution supporting continued funding of
3 the Florida Tobacco Control Program.
4
5 WHEREAS, on August 25, 1997, the State of Florida won a
6 landmark victory against the tobacco industry to recover the
7 costs incurred in treating and caring for sick smokers, and
8 WHEREAS, according to the terms of the final Settlement
9 Agreement, the State of Florida will receive $13 billion over
10 a period of 25 years, and
11 WHEREAS, under the Settlement Agreement, the tobacco
12 industry paid the State of Florida $550 million in 1997 with
13 an additional $200 million in 1998; $247.5 million in 1999;
14 $275 million in 2000; $357.5 million in 2001; $357.5 million
15 in 2002; and $440 million for every year thereafter, and
16 WHEREAS, it is recognized that most people begin using
17 tobacco in early adolescence and that almost all first use
18 occurs by the time of high school graduation, and
19 WHEREAS, under the Settlement Agreement entered into by
20 the tobacco industry and the State of Florida, part of the
21 revenues paid to the State of Florida by the tobacco industry
22 is designated to fund anti-tobacco programs aimed at reducing
23 or eliminating tobacco use and addiction among Florida's
24 youth, and
25 WHEREAS, the Florida Tobacco Control Program, including
26 Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) and the TRUTH
27 advertising campaign, was established in support of Florida's
28 commitment to the meaningful and immediate reduction of the
29 use of tobacco products by children under the age of 18, and
30 was the nation's first anti-tobacco education program founded
31 with the industry's money, and
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SR 2462
18-1967-04
1 WHEREAS, the Florida Tobacco Control Program is
2 designed to change attitudes about tobacco, increase youth
3 empowerment through community involvement, reduce youth access
4 to and availability of tobacco products, and reduce youth
5 exposure to second-hand smoke, and
6 WHEREAS, SWAT currently has a statewide membership of
7 70,000 students in 203 middle schools, 206 high schools, and
8 85 community centers across Florida, and
9 WHEREAS, United States Surgeon General Rich Carmona and
10 former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop praised the Florida
11 Tobacco Control Program as the most successful program in the
12 country at reducing youth smoking, and
13 WHEREAS, according to the Florida Department of Health,
14 the Florida Tobacco Control Program has reduced smoking by 50
15 percent among middle school students and 35 percent among high
16 school students since the program's inception in 1998, as
17 documented by the 2002 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, and
18 WHEREAS, the drop in youth smoking rates means there
19 were 119,840 fewer youth smokers in Florida in 2002 than in
20 1998, and
21 WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
22 estimates that total smoking-related costs in Florida were in
23 excess of $11 billion in 2002, with approximately $595 million
24 in Medicaid expenditures for treatment of tobacco-related
25 illness and disease, and
26 WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control
27 and Prevention, tobacco use is the leading cause of
28 preventable death in this country and is directly responsible
29 for most cases of emphysema and bronchitis and for 87 percent
30 of incidences of lung cancer, and
31
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SR 2462
18-1967-04
1 WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Health estimates
2 that if the rate of youth smoking continues to decline at the
3 rate documented by the 2002 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey,
4 Florida could realize a direct savings of more than $178
5 million each year in the state's share of Medicaid
6 expenditures, and
7 WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that
8 more than 30,000 children now under the age of 18 and
9 currently alive in Florida will ultimately die prematurely
10 from smoking, and
11 WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has funded the Tobacco
12 Control Program each year since its inception, providing $70
13 million in Fiscal Year 1998-1999; $44.2 million in Fiscal Year
14 1999-2000; $44.2 million in Fiscal Year 2000-2001; $37.3
15 million in Fiscal Year 2001-2002; $39 million in Fiscal Year
16 2002-2003; and $1 million in Fiscal Year 2003-2004, and
17 WHEREAS, the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
18 2002-2003 enacted by the Legislature included $2.12 million in
19 proviso language that the Governor vetoed, reducing the
20 operating budget of the Tobacco Control Program to $36.98
21 million, and
22 WHEREAS, the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
23 2003-2004 enacted by the Legislature included only $1 million
24 to operate the Tobacco Control Program, and
25 WHEREAS, state funding of the most successful and
26 effective youth tobacco-control program ever was reduced to
27 only $1 million in 2003-2004 fiscal year, and Big Tobacco has
28 dramatically increased marketing and promotion efforts,
29 spending nearly $651 million in Florida in 2001, according to
30 the Federal Trade Commission, and
31
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SR 2462
18-1967-04
1 WHEREAS, with only 0.1% of tobacco-related revenues
2 dedicated to prevention for Fiscal Year 2003-2004, Florida
3 ranks 44th in the nation for prevention spending, despite
4 ranking 9th in the nation for tobacco-related revenues, and
5 WHEREAS, since 1998, Florida has collected $3.7 billion
6 in MSA payments and nearly $3 billion in cigarette tax
7 revenues, while devoting only $182.7 million to prevention
8 efforts during the same time period, and
9 WHEREAS, Governor Jeb Bush has publicly expressed
10 support for the Tobacco Control Program stating to the
11 Associated Press on May 29, 2003, "I see a direct relationship
12 between teen smoking and teen drug abuse and I just wanted to
13 make this commitment to you today that we are not going to
14 abandon our anti-tobacco campaign in this state," and
15 WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Florida Department of
16 Health has publicly expressed support for continued funding of
17 the Tobacco Control Program, stating, "we are committed to
18 seeking restored, or even increased, funding for the tobacco
19 program as part of the department's legislative budget request
20 for Fiscal Year 2004-2005," and further, to the Associated
21 Press on May 29, 2003, "I'm confident that we'll be able to at
22 least keep the message going, keep the battle raging with the
23 hope that the resources will come just in the nick of time. I
24 plan on scrounging up every resource that I can and if I run
25 out of bullets, then I'll fight with knives and if I don't
26 have knives, I'll fight with sticks," NOW, THEREFORE,
27
28 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
29
30 That this legislative body recognize the significant
31 impact this nationally acclaimed Tobacco Control Program has
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SR 2462
18-1967-04
1 had on reducing the incidence of smoking and smoking-related
2 illnesses and death among children and hereby commit to do all
3 within our power and authority to restore adequate funding to
4 the program in Fiscal Year 2004-2005.
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.