The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office has announced that Kentucky has received $100,378,901.53 for this year’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payment.
The Commonwealth has received $2.8 billion from the nationwide agreement with cigarette manufacturers since 1998.
“These funds — nearly $3 billion — are making a real difference for Kentucky farm families and helping our kids live healthier, more fulfilling lives,” said Attorney General Russell Coleman. “Growing up working in the tobacco patches of Logan County, I deeply respect farmers’ importance for our Commonwealth and its future. For over 20 years, the tobacco settlement has helped strengthen our rural communities.”
In 1998, Kentucky and 51 states and territories reached the MSA with major cigarette manufacturers. 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 MSA seeks to reduce underage smoking and decrease new smokers. Each state determines how the settlement funds are used.
In Kentucky, half of the funds are allocated for agricultural diversification through grants distributed 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 each year. 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 MSA for the Attorney General’s Office, ensuring that cigarette manufacturers perform their responsibilities and that Kentucky gets its share of funds under the agreement.