State to Get Additional Tobacco Settlement Funds

California will reap another $444 million from the $206-billion legal settlement between 46 states and the tobacco industry, according to the lead negotiator for the states.

The $444 million, to be paid over the next 25 years, comes on top of the $25-billion windfall that the state is due during that period as a result of the 1998 agreement, Washington Atty. Gen. Christine Gregoire said Wednesday.

The additional money is from an $8.6-billion Strategic Contribution Fund in the settlement that had not been allocated until now, Gregoire said.

The fund was created as an extra award for those states that played a lead role in the lawsuits against tobacco companies and in the negotiations that led to the settlement.

A three-member panel of attorneys general established two criteria for awarding the funds, according to Gregoire. She said 70% of the money was awarded based on a state’s work on the lawsuits and settlement talks. Since Washington was one of the earliest states to sue and because Gregoire played a major role in the negotiations, Washington received the largest award in the country for this category. Another 20% was distributed primarily on an allocation formula related to a state’s population and its annual smoking related health expenditures.

Gregoire said the panel reserved 10% of the Strategic Contribution Fund for allocation later. That money will be used to address any inequities. If there is still money left over, it will allocated based on a state’s litigation efforts and/or role in the settlement process.