ACTION ALERT:

Talking Points:

• The Trust Fund’s purpose is to reduce cigarette smoking and tobacco use among youth and adults through education, prevention, and helping people quit smoking and tobacco. This includes:
  • Prevention work across the state on the dangers of tobacco, including e-cigarettes;
  • Community cessation services on all islands except Ni‘ihau to help smokers quit; and
  • Hawai‘i Tobacco Quitline, which provides free and confidential counseling and support services to help people become tobacco-free.
• The tobacco industry spends $26.1 million in marketing in Hawai‘i annually, but the state spends only $7.9 million on tobacco prevention and control, 58% of the total CDC recommended amount.
• Youth cigarette smoking rates have decreased dramatically since the inception of the trust fund: In 1999, 27.9% of Hawai‘i high schoolers smoked cigarettes, compared to 5.3% in 2019.
• The Trust Fund’s primary source of funding is from the Master Settlement Agreement, not taxpayer dollars. In 1997, the tobacco companies settled with the states and the Tobacco Master Settlement was established to recover part of the damages for deaths and illness caused by tobacco. From the Master Settlement Agreement, the Hawai‘i State Legislature allocated a portion payments to establish the Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund. In addition, no revenue from the cigarette tax or other tobacco product tax is allocated to the Trust Fund.
• The Trust Fund provides a dedicated, stable source of funding for CDC-recommended strategies to reduce tobacco use. Dedicated and consistent funding is key to developing robust tobacco prevention and cessation efforts, as it allows for program continuity and long-term planning. In addition, the programs and services the Trust Fund supports actively work to reduce disparities in tobacco use, prioritizing programs that serve Native Hawaiians, people with low socio-economic status, people with behavioral health conditions, LGBT, and pregnant women.
• Since 2000, Hawai‘i has saved over $1 billion dollars in healthcare costs through significant reductions in smoking among youth, adults, and pregnant women. For every $1 spent on tobacco prevention, Hawai‘i saves $6.64 in direct healthcare costs.
• There is still work to be done: Hawai‘i is facing epidemic levels of youth e-cigarette use, with one in three high school students and one in five middle school students report “current use” of e-cigarettes.
• While we understand the state’s serious budgetary issues, tobacco prevention and control funding is critical to saving lives and healthcare costs. Passing HB1296 will be a win for the tobacco industry, hurting the health of Hawai‘i residents and undoing decades of progress made by highly successful tobacco prevention and control programs.