North Carolina may have received $4.6 billion from the settlement of a national tobacco lawsuit, but state politicians cannot agree how to dole out the money. A vote in the state House of Representatives was pushed back for the second day in a row Thursday after Democratic leaders failed to rally the necessary support.
"We are still working hard to build consensus on the bill," said Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, one of the bill's sponsors.
The current plan-which comes a month after the state Senate approved a bill designating $2.3 billion of the settlement money for a charitable foundation-would split the settlement three ways.
Half would be handled by the foundation, which would channel funds into tobacco-dependent communities. The remainder would be divided equally into two trust funds: one to aid farmers and another to strengthen health care programs.
Many of the bill's opponents challenge the constitutionality of the foundation. "[The foundation] would absolutely take all control away from the General Assembly," said Rep. Russell Capps, R-Durham. "Appointees would not be responsible to the public or to the General Assembly."
Wrangling over the bill has been split along party lines. The bill's three sponsors are all Democrats and its main opposition has come from Republicans, who want more money to go to farmers.
"We're sitting here bleeding bad," said Jerome Vick of Wilson, who has farmed tobacco for 28 years. "Tobacco-dependent communities are exactly that. They depend on tobacco, and you don't make them whole by giving them a welfare check or building them a technical college."
Tobacco quotas-the amount farmers are allowed to grow-have been slashed 35 percent in the last two years, wounding many farms and communities.
Tobacco farmers note the inherent difficulties that would come with changing their product. "People may think, 'Well, farmers might have to plant another crop,' but it's not that easy," Vick said. "You have a lot of capital invested in specialty equipment for growing tobacco."
The debate over how to distribute the settlement money has pitted health care interest groups like the American Lung Association, which supports the bill, against farmers, many of whom want more money to go directly to tobacco growers.
"We have requested 50 percent to go towards health [care] because of the false and deceptive trade practices of the tobacco industry," said Deborah Bryan, an ALA lobbyist.
She said the money should be used to keep children and teenagers from smoking by financing prevention programs, paying for cessation services and more strictly enforcing anti-teen smoking laws.
Many tobacco farmers converged on the Capitol this week to voice their concerns at public hearings and participate in a grass-roots "tractorcade" demonstration.
"I heard someone say that health care is for everyone," said Randall Douglas, a Sanford farmer who participated in the tractorcade. "Well, agriculture is too. The Duke Endowment, R.J. Reynolds-they created the hospitals in this state, the universities. Tobacco paid for all the things that made this state stand out, and now I feel like the farmers are almost being sacrificed."
However, Democrats note that the lawsuit was settled to reimburse the state for the Medicaid money it spent to treat people with tobacco-related illnesses.
"This money wasn't granted to help tobacco farmers, it was granted for health reasons," said Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, who said he supports the plan and thinks farmers' requests for direct aid are out of line.
But Democrats are fighting a self-imposed deadline-sponsors of the legislation have given themselves until March 15 to pass the bill.
Luebke said this delay would actually be beneficial. "There's tremendous misinformation being circulated about this bill," he said. "If we had another week or two, people would have a better sense of what aid could come to tobacco-dependent communities."
The bill now being considered is not the only plan for how to designate the $4.6 billion. House Minority Leader Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, proposed an amendment to the bill that would have abolished the charitable foundation and instead given half the money to farm workers and the other half to health care. He is now working on an alternative bill.
Members of the Select Committee on the Tobacco Settlement will reconvene Monday at 2:00 p.m. to continue discussing the proposed bill.
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