62            
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
URGING THE U.S. CONGRESS TO ENACT LEGISLATION THAT AMENDS THE
   SOCIAL SECURITY ACT TO PROHIBIT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM
   RECEIVING ANY SHARE OF THE FUNDS AWARDED IN THE TOBACCO
   SETTLEMENT THAT WAS REACHED IN 1998 BETWEEN THE STATES AND
   THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY.



 1       WHEREAS, on November 23, 1998, representatives from forty-
 2   six states signed a settlement agreement with the five largest
 3   tobacco manufacturers, which settled lawsuits seeking to recoup
 4   the states' costs of treating smokers; and
 5   
 6       WHEREAS, the Attorneys General Master Tobacco Settlement
 7   Agreement culminated legal action that began in 1994 when
 8   states began filing lawsuits against the tobacco industry; and
 9   
10       WHEREAS, currently, the respective states are in the
11   process of finalizing the terms of the Master Tobacco
12   Settlement Agreement and are making initial fiscal
13   determinations relative to the most responsible ways and means
14   to utilize the settlement funds; and
15   
16       WHEREAS, under the terms of the agreement, tobacco
17   manufacturers will pay $206,000,000,000 over the next twenty-
18   five years to the respective states in up-front and annual
19   payments; and
20   
21       WHEREAS, under the terms of the Master Tobacco Settlement
22   Agreement, Hawaii is projected to receive $1,179,165,923.07
23   through the year 2025; and
24   
25       WHEREAS, because many state lawsuits sought to recover
26   Medicaid funds spent to treat illnesses caused by tobacco use,
27   the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration contends that it
28   is authorized and obligated under the Social Security Act, to
29   collect its share of any tobacco settlement funds that are
30   attributable to Medicaid; and
31   
32       WHEREAS, the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement does not
33   address the Medicaid recoupment issue, and thus, the Social
34   Security Act must be amended to resolve the recoupment issue so
35   that the moneys from the settlement remain with the respective
36   states; and

 
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 1       WHEREAS, in addition to the recoupment issue, there is also
 2   considerable interest in earmarking state tobacco settlement
 3   fund expenditures at both the state and national levels; and
 4   
 5       WHEREAS, as the final approval of the Master Tobacco
 6   Settlement Agreement nears, it is imperative that the states
 7   retain their rightful full share of the tobacco settlement
 8   funds; now, therefore,
 9   
10       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
11   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
12   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the U.S. Congress is urged
13   to enact legislation that amends the Social Security Act to
14   prohibit the federal government from receiving any share of the
15   funds awarded in the tobacco settlement that was reached in
16   1998 between the states and the tobacco industry; and
17   
18       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the respective state
19   legislatures retain complete autonomy over the appropriation
20   and expenditure of their respective tobacco settlement funds;
21   and
22   
23       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Congress oppose any
24   efforts by the federal government to earmark or impose any
25   other restrictions on the respective states' use of the state
26   tobacco settlement funds; and
27   
28       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
29   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the
30   United States, the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of
31   the U.S. House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's
32   Congressional Delegation.
33 
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36                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________