Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Friday that Kentucky has received $100,378,901.53 for this year’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement payment.
Since 1998, Kentucky has received $2.8 billion from the nationwide agreement with cigarette manufacturers. During that year, Kentucky and 51 states and territories reached a Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with major cigarette manufacturers.
According to the release, the historic agreement resolved state lawsuits against the tobacco companies for Medicaid and other health costs related to smoking.
In addition to the annual compensation, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement seeks to reduce underage smoking and decrease new smokers. Each state determines how the settlement funds are used.
In the Commonwealth, half of the funds are allocated for agricultural diversification through grants by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The remaining funds are split evenly between the Early Childhood Development Fund and the Kentucky Health Care Improvement Fund. The General Assembly’s Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee oversees all agricultural grant application decisions and monitors expenditures under the other funds.
Under the settlement terms, participating cigarette manufacturers must make a yearly payment to the states based on an annually adjusted rate per number of cigarettes sold annually. Kentucky will continue to receive payments from participating manufacturers each year they sell cigarettes in the United States.
Assistant Attorneys General Michael Plumley and Andrew Eveslage administer the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement for the Attorney General’s Office, ensuring that cigarette manufacturers perform their responsibilities and that Kentucky gets its share of funds under the agreement.
Source: WBKO
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