December, 2005

State Anti-Smoking Effort Faulted
Report: Programs For Kids Underfunded

December 1, 2005
By GARRET CONDON, Hartford Courant Staff Writer

When it comes to spending money to keep children off cigarettes, Connecticut is still blowing smoke, according to a new state-by-state analysis.

"We should be outraged and ashamed that Connecticut ranks virtually dead last - 45th among the states - in spending to discourage children from smoking," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

Connecticut has never ranked above 43rd in this report since it was first issued in 2000.

The ranking comes from a report on state-sponsored tobacco prevention efforts that is prepared annually by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association.

This year's report focuses on the impact of feeble prevention efforts on children, more of whom will become tomorrow's smokers without a strong anti-cigarette message to counterbalance more than $15 billion in tobacco marketing nationwide and $157 million in Connecticut.

All states are spending a combined $551 million for tobacco prevention programs, according to the report.

Connecticut spends $40,000 annually on tobacco prevention, which is 0.2 percent of the $21.2 million recommended for the state by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Blumenthal estimates that the state has received about $800 million from tobacco companies under a 1998 multi-state settlement, but has spent less than 1 percent of that total on battling tobacco addiction.

The office of Gov. M. Jodi Rell declined to comment on the report.

Only four states - Maine, Colorado, Delaware, and Mississippi - fund tobacco prevention programs at the CDC's minimum recommended level, according to the study.

"Connecticut is one of the most disappointing states when it comes to protecting kids from tobacco and currently spends less than 1 percent of what the CDC recommends," said William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It is more important than ever that Connecticut step up its tobacco prevention efforts because the tobacco companies are spending record amounts to market their deadly and addictive products, often in ways that appeal to kids."

November, 2005

Washington State Votes Overwhelmingly for Clean Indoor Air; becomes 10th smoke-free workplace state

Voters in Washington State sent a clear message in favor of clean indoor air. By a margin of 62% to 26%, voters in every county favored smoke-free workplace legislation for ALL workers, including restaurant and bar workers. Washington is the first state to also require smoke-free entrances. Smoking will not be allowed within 25 feet of doorways, windows, and ventilation ducts of smoke-free establishments in order to prevent contaminated air from entering those establishments.

"ALL workers (including office, restaurant, bar, bingo, bowling, casino, tavern, pub, and nightclub workers) deserve a safe, healthy, smoke-free work environment," says Joe Cherner, founder of BREATHE-- Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment. "Laws should treat the health of all workers equally. Bar and restaurant workers should have the same right to a smoke-free work environment as everyone else. No worker should have to breathe tobacco smoke pollution to hold a job, because it causes cancer, respiratory illness, and heart disease."

As shown in the chart below, Washington joins California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Montana, and Vermont in requiring smoke-free workplaces for all workers.

June, 2005

Did improper political interference lead to the sudden reversal by the Department of Justice in the landmark tobacco case in U.S. District Court?

This was the question asked in a letter to The Honorable Glenn A. fine, Inspector General, U.S. Dept. of Justice by congressmen Waxman and Meehan.

Despite the testimony of a key government witness and a leading national expert that $130 billion is necessary to fund smoking cessation programs, the Justice Department, without explanation, asked the court for only $10 billion.

CLICK HERE to learn more!

March, 2005

MATCH Coalition Legislative Update
Submitted by: Cari Carter, MATCH Grassroots Manager

New Legislative Alert:

SB 1238 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE SALE OF CANDY FLAVORED CIGARETTES

Background:
SB 1238 purpose is to prohibit the sale of cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, chewing tobacco or snuff tobacco that contain candy or candy-like flavors. Public health groups and tobacco control advocates warn that candy-flavored tobacco products are targeted to youth.  According to survey evidence and public health experts, children are more likely to choose candy-flavored cigarettes, therefore increasing the incidence of tobacco use among children.

Message:
SB 1238 has been introduced by the Public Health Committee and is on the public hearing agenda for Friday, 3/18. Please contact Public Health Committee members and ask them to support SB 1238 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE SALE OF CANDY FLAVORED CIGARETTES.

(CLICK HERE for directions on how to contact members of the Public Health Committee)

Update on Other Legislation:

SB 1225 AN ACT CONCERNING FUNDING OF SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
(Medicaid coverage of smoking cessation)

This bill was voted on in the Human Services Committee and passed unanimously!!! The bill will now go to the Appropriations Committee...stay tuned for alerts!

HB 6856 AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING AT PARI-MUTUEL FACILITIES
This bill was referred from the General Law Committee to the Public Health Committee. This is the same thing that had happened to HB 5138 AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN CERTAIN ESTABLISHMENTS. We are told that HB 6856 will not be voted on or discussed in the Public Health Committee!

HB 5138 AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN CERTAIN ESTABLISHMENTS
This bill is still in the Public Health Committee and will most likely stay there...will keep you updated!

How to Contact the Public Health Committee

Support SB 1238 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE SALE OF CANDY FLAVORED CIGARETTES
Go to www.jblei.com and click on Login to secure bill tracking site (username: match password: match) Click on the Action Alert and email the Public Health Committee - the website makes it easy to do.  An email message is already written for you, but please feel free to add your own words!

(Take a look around the site...this is a great way to keep up to date on the latest legislation and to communicate with your legislators.)

February, 2005

Governor Rell's Proposal To Increase The Cigarette Tax Is An Important Step, But Connecticut Should Use Some Of The Revenue To Fully Fund Tobacco Prevention Programs.

Statement of Leah Stroman, Executive Director, MATCH Coalition... CLICK HERE

June, 2004

MATCH Coalition Legislative Update
Submitted by: Cari Carter, MATCH Grassroots Manager

The MATCH Coalition continued working hard this legislative session in order to keep the statewide smoking ban as strong as ever.

The smoking ban had a challenger this session, Representative Leonard Greene (R) from Beacon Falls. Rep. Greene introduced legislation that would have watered down the smoking ban by allowing smoking rooms in restaurants and exempting bars from the statewide ban altogether. This piece of legislation did make its way to the General Law Committee. On the day of the public hearing in the General Law Committee, MATCH had organized a press conference restating our commitment to the smoking ban. Following the press conference, smoking ban advocates - including a former bar worker whose husband currently owns a bar in Eastern Connecticut - testified at the General Law Committee public hearing in support of the ban.

Smoking ban advocates were not the only testimonies the General Law Committee heard. A group of over 40 bar owners and workers came to testify in support of weakening the smoking ban. The bar owners and workers made the argument of economics, not one of public health. The General Law Committee patiently listened to the testimonies and voted the following week to kill this threatening legislation. This was not the end of the final struggle to secure the smoking ban in the state of Connecticut.

In the last days of the legislative session, Rep. Greene attempted to amend his smoking ban legislation to a campaign finance bill that was introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives. The amendment was voted down in the House due to a ruling stating the amendment was not germane – meaning it was not clearly related to the campaign finance reform legislation it had been attached to.

The session ended and the statewide smoking ban was still intact, thanks to the support of legislators and their constituents.

Thank you all for your hard work!

January, 2004

Class Action Fairness Act
Editorial by Hugh Williams, Field Organizer ConnPIRG and Kevin Graff, Executive Director, MATCH

Senator Dodd did the right thing for the Public Interest by voting against the so-called “Class Action Fairness Act” last October. Now, he should stand firm against the special interests by dropping his support for a flawed compromise made behind closed doors. The bill would make it harder for victims of unsafe products, environmental pollution or discrimination to obtain justice. Strengthening the class action system is a laudable cause, but this legislation will strip the rights of victims of wrongdoing in favor of the corporate special interests.

Senator Dodd negotiated a new class action bill behind closed doors with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a body that represents the corporations who will benefit most from the bill’s passage. No one was at the negotiating table from the public health, consumer protection, environmental, or civil rights communities.

The misleadingly named “Class Action Fairness Act” will limit the ability of consumers to hold companies accountable for violations of state laws. By moving class action lawsuits to crowded, often hostile, federal courts, the act would favor the corporations over the victims. Consumer class action lawsuits in state courts have been successful in challenging many corporate abuses.

Sen. Dodd and other supporters of the class action bill claim legislation is needed to stop lawyers from “forum-shopping.” In other words, the measure is meant to prevent lawyers from bringing nationwide class action cases in friendly state courts that have very little connection to the facts of the cases. But the legislation goes much further than that, by placing class actions in federal court even when every class member is from the same state, the harm occurred in that state, and the defendant violated state laws. It is not “forum-shopping” to bring a case in state court under those circumstances. Yet, the legislation as proposed by Senator Dodd would place most of those cases into federal court, regardless of how much business the defendant does in that state, how many employees it has, or how much damage it does.

An excellent example of how this legislation benefits the corporate special interests at the expense of the consumer involves the tobacco industry. The recent Miles case in Illinois earlier this year demonstrates that class action cases continue to be an effective mechanism for holding Big Tobacco accountable. As the judge in the Illinois case found, which was brought on behalf of Illinois smokers, Philip Morris knew from its own research that light cigarettes were no safer than regular brands, but for decades deceptively marketed these cigarettes as reducing smokers’ health risks. Under the new bill, these types of cases will be sent to federal court, where cases with similar claims have already been dismissed on procedural grounds. The tobacco industry does not need more protection against citizen suits. If anything, citizens need more protection against tobacco industry wrongdoing.

In a recent editorial, the Courant lauded the legislation because it “adds a provision that will allow federal judges to require that the value of unclaimed settlement coupons be donated to charity.” In fact, judges already have that power, and such funds have been distributed to hundreds of worthwhile groups in past years, ranging from the American Cancer Society to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the NAACP. The compromise, which was negotiated with the Chamber of Commerce and not with the public interest community, actually lessens the likelihood that unclaimed class settlement funds will be used in ways to help consumers, seniors, the environment, and others.

This anti-consumer class action “unfairness” bill will slam the doors of justice on Connecticut citizens. Because the bill sends most significant class action lawsuits to federal court and federal courts routinely delay and dismiss consumer class actions, corporations will be able to commit consumer fraud and civil rights, labor and environmental violations without fear of reprisal. Victims will be left without compensation. The “right” to bring class actions in federal court is often no right at all because there is no remedy to enforce it.

Senator Dodd should abandon his support of a bill that would remove critical accountability for corporate wrongdoing. The Class Action Bill is bad for the people of Connecticut, and Senator Dodd should vote against it.

May, 2003

Governor Rowland has signed SB-908, to ban smoking in workplaces.

AN ACT CONCERNING SECONDHAND SMOKE IN WORK PLACES was signed by the governor May, 2003.  This bill generally tightens restrictions on smoking in workplaces and public buildings. It bans smoking in workplaces where more than 10 people work; restaurants, cafés, and taverns; state and municipal buildings; and health care institutions, except in designated smoking rooms. And it extends the current ban on smoking in public areas of retail food stores to the entire store. Smoking rooms, under the bill, must be completely separated from nonsmoking areas by floor-to-ceiling walls and a door and ventilated in way that prevents smoke from entering nonsmoking areas. Food and beverages may not be served or distributed in them.

COMPLETE BILL STATUS... CLICK HERE

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make this happen! The bill that we have all worked so hard to pass has now become law. This makes Connecticut the fourth state in the country to ban smoking in workplaces.

Now, it is important that we continue to support smoke-free air in Connecticut by defending this law.

January, 2003

CONNECTICUT PTA WORKS WITH THE MATCH COALITION TO RESTORE LOCAL CONTROL OF SMOKING REGULATIONS
by Peg Perillie, Connecticut PTA Health & Welfare Commissioner

MATCH is a statewide coalition composed of over 125 organizations dedicated to protecting Connecticut’s children from the ills of tobacco use. We need your support of legislation that would change Connecticut’s law to give cities and towns the authority to protect their residents from secondhand smoke in public places.

Connecticut is the only state in New England that forbids communities from protecting their residents from secondhand smoke. Local control of smoking regulations must be restored.

This past spring, 105 mayors and first selectmen signed our petition to protect Connecticut’s children and 76 members of the Connecticut House of Representatives signed on to the supporting legislation. Our goal of signing up 2,500 new supporters from our grassroots membership for the coming session will create even more legislative momentum!

Local unit presidents were sent five postage-paid interest cards in October. Did you reach out to your members? Ask for their support? Encourage them to sign and return the cards? We need you to help protect Connecticut ’s children.

The MATCH Coalition (Mobilize Against Tobacco for Children’s Health) is a statewide organization that was established in 1995 for the single purpose of helping Connecticut’s children stay tobacco free. Connecticut PTA has been working in partnership with MATCH for several years. Peg Perillie serves as the Connecticut PTA representative to the MATCH coalition.

July, 2002

Anti-Tobacco

Facing alarming and unanticipated budget deficits, CT along with four other states have enacted new cigarette taxes this year. The legislators are using tobacco taxes to plug budget holes.

Tobacco control coalitions across the country have been working to educate the public and policymakers about the true costs of tobacco use and the many benefits of tax increases.

CT PTA will continue to serve on the MATCH coalition and follow the tobacco legislation.

Second Hand Smoke

In 1993, legislation was enacted to preempt local control of clean indoor air. House bill 5293 passed two committees, but the legislative session adjourned before the bill could reach its final passage. 98 towns out of 169 towns had come out in support of the bill generating much support. The bill was tabled.

TRACK THE BILL... CLICK HERE

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