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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE HAWAII TOBACCO SETTLEMENT SPECIAL FUND.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to establish the
 
 2 Hawaii tobacco settlement special fund to serve as a medium for a
 
 3 public-private partnership to reduce tobacco consumption in
 
 4 Hawaii to control, and prevent chronic diseases where tobacco is
 
 5 a risk factor, to promote healthy lifestyles through better
 
 6 nutrition and improved physical activity, and promote children's
 
 7 health.
 
 8      Research has shown that cigarette smoking and tobacco use
 
 9 are the single leading cause of preventable morbidity and
 
10 mortality in Hawaii and the nation.  In Hawaii, more than 1,300
 
11 residents die annually as a result of tobacco-related illness,
 
12 which accounts for 16 per cent of resident deaths and more than
 
13 $320,000,000 in economic impact.  Federal and state health
 
14 objectives for the years 2000 and 2010, which offer a vision for
 
15 the new century, call for improvements in health status.  These
 
16 improvements are achieved through preventive interventions and
 
17 reductions in preventable death and disability, enhanced quality
 
18 of life, and reduced disparities in the health of populations
 
19 within Hawaii, the Pacific, and the nation.
 

 
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 1      The fund shall serve as a mechanism to maximize financial
 
 2 resources for tobacco prevention and control, health promotion
 
 3 and disease prevention programs, children's health programs, and
 
 4 to serve as a long-term source of stable funding for prevention-
 
 5 oriented public health efforts.
 
 6      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 7 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
 8 follows:
 
 9                             "CHAPTER
 
10              HAWAII TOBACCO SETTLEMENT SPECIAL FUND
 
11      �   -1 Definitions.  Whenever used in this chapter, unless
 
12 the context otherwise requires:
 
13      "Department" means the department of health.
 
14      "Director" means the director of health.
 
15      "Health promotion and disease prevention programs" means
 
16 those public health programs that attempt to reduce resources
 
17 spent on treating preventable illness and functional impairment,
 
18 enhance the quality of life, and reduce disparities in the health
 
19 status of populations.
 
20      "Children's health program" means health care for needy
 
21 children.
 
22      "Tobacco prevention and control programs" means those public
 

 
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 1 health programs that attempt to reduce tobacco consumption.
 
 2      "Special fund" or "fund" means the Hawaii tobacco settlement
 
 3 special fund.
 
 4      �   -2 Creation of the Hawaii tobacco settlement special
 
 5 fund. (a)  There is established in the state treasury a special
 
 6 fund to be known as the Hawaii tobacco settlement special fund
 
 7 into which shall be deposited fifty per cent of the total amount
 
 8 collected by the State from the tobacco settlement to be
 
 9 administered by the department in accordance with this section.
 
10 The moneys received by the State from the settlement with the
 
11 tobacco companies and any interest, income, and  capital gains
 
12 earned by the fund shall constitute the special fund assets.
 
13      (b)  The department may contract with and transfer money
 
14 from this special fund to interest-bearing accounts or to a
 
15 private entity for investment until such time as moneys may be
 
16 needed for the purposes of this chapter.  All interests accruing
 
17 from the investment of these moneys shall be credited to the
 
18 Hawaii tobacco settlement fund.
 
19      (c)  The department shall transfer up to fifty per cent of
 
20 the allocation to department of human services for children's
 
21 health programs.
 
22      (d)  The department shall expend moneys in the fund to
 

 
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 1 reduce cigarette smoking and tobacco use among youth and adults
 
 2 through education and enforcement activities, to control and
 
 3 prevent chronic diseases where tobacco use is a risk factor, to
 
 4 promote health lifestyles through better nutrition and improved
 
 5 physical activity, and to assess the effectiveness of health
 
 6 promotion and disease prevention and tobacco prevention and
 
 7 control programs.
 
 8      (e)  The fund may receive appropriations, contributions,
 
 9 grants, endowments, or gifts in cash or otherwise from any source
 
10 provided that any appropriations made by the State are not
 
11 intended to supplant the funding of existing prevention programs.
 
12      (f)  There shall be an endowment component of the Hawaii
 
13 tobacco settlement special fund."
 
14      (g)  Moneys in the Hawaii tobacco settlement fund shall be
 
15 used by the department for the purposes of this chapter, provided
 
16 that not more than five per cent of this amount shall be used for
 
17 administrative expenses.
 
18      SECTION 3.  There shall be appropriated out of the state
 
19 treasury of the State of Hawaii, a fifty per cent share of the
 
20 total moneys received by the State from the settlement with the
 
21 tobacco companies, to the Hawaii tobacco settlement special fund
 
22 for the purposes of this Act.  The other fifty per cent share of
 

 
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 1 the total moneys received by the State from the settlement shall
 
 2 go into the governor's rainy day fund.
 
 3      The sum appropriated for the special fund shall be expended
 
 4 by the department of health for the purposes of this Act.
 
 5      SECTION 4.  For the department of health expenditures, the
 
 6 department shall develop a strategic plan to effectuate the
 
 7 purposes of this chapter.  It shall convene an advisory board to
 
 8 assist in the development of a strategic plan and to make
 
 9 recommendations to the department.  The advisory board shall be
 
10 sufficiently representative of community stakeholders so as to
 
11 assure broad-based input into the development of the plan.  This
 
12 plan shall assess the current status and effectiveness of
 
13 programs engaged in health promotion, disease prevention, and
 
14 tobacco prevention and control and include detailed
 
15 recommendations for the implementation of specific programs
 
16 deemed necessary to further carry out the purposes of the Act.
 
17 The plan shall also contain sufficient standards and benchmarks
 
18 by which measures of program success may be appropriately
 
19 evaluated.  The department shall report this strategic plan
 
20 twenty days prior to the commencement of the 2000 legislature.
 
21      SECTION 5.  If any provision of this Act, or its application
 
22 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
 

 
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 1 shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Act
 
 2 which may be given effect without the invalid provision or
 
 3 application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are
 
 4 severable.
 
 5      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval;
 
 6 provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 1999. 
 
 7 
 
 8                           INTRODUCED BY: ________________________
 

 
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