A critical related issue is whether states understand their own unique and individual education and public health needs better than the federal government. The nation's Governor's are committed to spending tobacco settlement funds on health care, education, and programs benefiting children. But no Governor would suggest that what will benefit Wisconsin has any particular relationship to what is needed in Virginia or North Carolina. Congress is also getting pressure on this issue from Washington lobbyists who are working overtime to carve out chunks of the money for their special interests. If they can induce Congress to place restrictions on the money, they stand a better chance of seeing it directed to their respective causes.
States deserve the flexibility to expend tobacco recoupment dollars as they see fit.
State taxpayers have already paid for this money once, through increased health care premiums and increased taxes paid by smokers and non-smokers alike to fund costs that in Connecticut total tens of millions of dollars each year as a direct result of smoking. To require that all of these dollars be directed to smoking cessation programs, for example, would make those who won't benefit from those programs pay yet again. Some states might find their money better spent on child health care, cancer research, expansion of health insurance for the poor, or education programs. The point is that the states should be allowed to choose. If states are not permitted to set their own priorities due to Washington micromanagement, our citizens will suffer another deleterious, indirect effect from tobacco.