Hawaii ranks 5th in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.
Hawaii currently spends $8.9 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 58.8 percent of the $15.2 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other key findings for Hawaii include:
Hawaii this year will collect $186 million in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 4.8 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs. This means Hawaii is spending less than 5 cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
The tobacco companies spend $24.7 million a year to market their products in Hawaii. This is 3 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.
The annual report on states’ funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled “Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 14 Years Later,” was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.
Hawaii has been a leader in the fight against tobacco with a high cigarette tax ($3.20 per pack), a strong smoke-free workplace law and its tobacco prevention and cessation program. However, the state this year cut funding for tobacco prevention by 17 percent. Hawaii has one of the lowest high school smoking rates in the nation at 10.1 percent, compared to 18.1 percent who smoke nationally.
“Hawaii has been a leader in the fight against tobacco, but needs to sustain its commitment to tobacco prevention in order to continue making progress,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment for Hawaii that protects kids, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs.”
In Hawaii, 1,500 more kids become regular smokers each year. Tobacco annually claims 1,100 lives and costs the state $336 million in health care bills.
Nationally, the report finds that most states are failing to adequately fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Key national findings include:
The states this year will collect $25.7 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 1.8 percent of it – $459.5 million – on tobacco prevention programs. This means the states are spending less than two cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
States are falling woefully short of the CDC’s recommended funding levels for tobacco prevention programs. Altogether, the states have budgeted just 12.4 percent of the $3.7 billion the CDC recommends.
Only two states – Alaska and North Dakota – currently fund tobacco prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level.
As the nation implements health care reform, the report warns that states are missing a golden opportunity to reduce tobacco-related health care costs, which total $96 billion a year in the U.S. One study found that during the first 10 years of its tobacco prevention program, Washington state saved more than $5 in tobacco-related hospitalization costs for every $1 spent on the program.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people each year
More information, including the full report and state-specific information, can be obtained at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements .
Filed under: aloha, Announcements, Education, Hawaii, Health, Kids, National Affairs, State Affairs | Tagged: American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hawaii, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Leave a Comment »
Citizens Rally to Save Clean Elections Program
Students Gather to Push Legislation Protecting Public Funding Pilot for County Council Elections
In the wake of an elections season dominated by private money and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v FEC, over thirty students and citizens walked from UH Hilo and gathered at the state building, holding signs and calling on state legislators to keep up funding for the Big Island public funding pilot program.
Even though the pilot program has been successful, allowing five out of nine current councilors to get elected without accepting any private money, funding to continue the program has been called into question.
The Campaign Spending Commission, which administers the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund, has been running at a deficit for several years. Unless the Campaign Fund has more than $3.5 million by next September, the Commission may halt the pilot program.
Noelie Rodrigues still Rallying for the Public
“It’s imperative the state find more funding for the Election Fund,” said Dr. Noelie Rodriguez, one of the event’s organizers. “When candidates don’t have to spend time dialing for dollars, they can spend more time figuring out how to make the county better for everyone,” she said.
The crowd at the Capitol included many younger people, including Jennifer Ruggles, a Voter Owned Hawaii intern, who said “This pay-to-play system of elections just isn’t sustainable for the long term. We need to address the issue of money in politics and publicly funded elections is the best place to start, and it needs to get adequate funding.”
To provide an alternative model to the outdated statewide partial funding program for elections, citizen advocates convinced legislators to implement a pilot program for Big Island County Council elections starting in 2010.
“Special interest money really undermines our system and we are very glad to have five councilors elected without accepting any,” said Rodriguez.
Advocates will also propose legislation this coming session to overhaul the statewide partial funding program. Implemented in 1978, the program was meant to limit the influence of special interest money on elections and laws passed by politicians. Over time, citizens say, the program became obsolete and now does not provide candidates with competitive sums of money.
“It’s a shame the 1978 program was never kept up to date and has become obsolete,” said Kory Payne, executive director for Voter Owned Hawaii. “After the Citizens United court decision, people are finally ready to see the public funding program work once again,” he added.
In Hawaii there appears to be overwhelming support for a public funding program for elections that grants competitive amounts of money to candidates. In a 2005 poll conducted by AARP, 86% of voting age Hawaii residents thought campaign contributions moderately or greatly influenced policies supported by elected officials.
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Filed under: Announcements, Big Island, Community, County Council, Education, Guest Commentator, Hawaii, Legal, Legislature, Politics, State Affairs, UH Hilo | Tagged: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Clean Elections, Hawaii County Clean Elections, Kory Payne, Noellie Rodriguez, Pilot experiment, Voter Owned Hawaii | Leave a Comment »