Tobacco Settlement: States' Allocations of Fiscal Year 2005 and Expected Fiscal Year 2006 Payments

In the 1990's, states sued major tobacco companies to obtain reimbursement for health impairments caused by the public's use of tobacco. In 1998, four of the nation's largest tobacco companies signed a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) to make annual payments to 46 states in perpetuity as reimbursement for past tobacco-related health care costs. Some states have arranged to receive advance proceeds based on the amounts that tobacco companies owe by issuing bonds backed by future payments. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 requires GAO to report annually, through fiscal year 2006, on how states use MSA payments made by tobacco companies. To conduct this study, GAO surveys the 46 states. This is the fifth and final of a series of reports that provides information on the payments the 46 states received in fiscal year 2005 and expect to receive in fiscal year 2006 and states' allocations of these funds to various program categories and changes from prior years.