Anti-smoking groups in Vermont want to avoid loss of $4.8 million in state funds
By APWednesday, January 20, 2010
Anti-smoking groups in Vt. want budget preserved
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont anti-smoking groups are trying to defend their programs’ budget, but Douglas administration officials say those programs aren’t being targeted for significant cuts.
Vermont chapters of the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and other groups held a news conference Wednesday to say the $4.8 million a year Vermont spends to get people to quit smoking or not to start saves the state much more money in the long run.
That money comes from the $40 million the state receives a year from a decade-old settlement of a lawsuit by states against the tobacco industry.
There are other uses for that money, though, including chipping in toward the more than $240 million a year the state spends on health care related to smoking.
(This version CORRECTS typographical error in ’say’ in the lead.)
