Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee was held on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at 10:00 AM, in Room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Senator Paul Hornback, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Paul Hornback, Co-Chair; Senators Carroll Gibson, Jimmy Higdon, Dennis Parrett, Robin L. Webb, and Whitney Westerfield; Representatives Tom McKee, Ryan Quarles, and Jonathan Shell.
Guests: Joel Neaveill, Bill McCloskey, Angela Blank, Brian Murphy, and Biff Baker, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy; Angela Criswell, Department for Public Health.
LRC Staff: Lowell Atchley, Kelly Ludwig, and Kelly Blevins.
The May 1, 2013, minutes were approved, without objection, by voice vote, upon a motion by Representative Shell and a second by Senator Gibson.
Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy
Mr. Joel Neaveill, Chief of Staff, and Mr. Bill McCloskey, Director of Financial Services, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP), testified about project funding decisions made by the Agricultural Development Board (ABD) during its May meeting.
Mr. Neaveill summarized funding allocations for the previous month under the County Agricultural Improvement (CAIP), Deceased Farm Animal Disposal Assistance, the On-Farm Energy, and Shared-Use Equipment programs.
Responding to Co-chair Hornback, Mr. Neaveill said county councils in recent years are using county funds more fully and not rolling the funds to the next fiscal year as much as they have in previous years. County councils award CAIP funding on a one-year basis.
GOAP officials summarized the projects approved for funding at the previous board meeting, including: Green River Cattlemen’s Association, $20,000 in Green County tobacco settlement funds to implement a youth heifer program; Buffalo Trace Area Development District, $20,000 in Bracken County funds to implement a hillside reclamation project; Daviess County Lions Club, $28,976 in Daviess County funds for improvements to the new county agricultural multipurpose facility; Daviess County High School, $4,500 in Daviess County funds to renovate the school greenhouse; Green River Area Beef Improvement Group, $20,000 in Daviess County funds to provide a youth agricultural production cost-share program. They summarized one project that was denied funding, Green River Conservation District, which had sought $271,000 in Green River county tobacco settlement funding.
Responding to Representative McKee, Mr. Neaveill said county councils set the age ranges of young people who can participate in youth agricultural programs.
Mr. Neaveill responded to a series of questions from Senator Gibson about processes and procedures of county councils, the working relationship with county extension agents who staff the councils, and the statutorily required makeup of county councils.
Representative McKee observed that the power of county councils to deny funding to applicants was an issue discussed by legislators as they considered HB 611, the tobacco settlement legislation, in the 2000 legislative session.
Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program
Ms. Angela Criswell, Tobacco Program Manager, testified about the annual Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program report. She discussed a range of state anti-smoking information and tobacco cessation efforts that included the Tobacco Retailer Underage Sales Training (TRUST), the 100 percent Tobacco-Free Schools undertaking, the Quit Now Kentucky smoking cessation campaign, behavioral risk outreach, and the passage of local smoke-free ordinances.
Ms. Criswell said that the TRUST training, sponsored by several agencies, is aimed at preventing underage smokers from buying cigarettes from retailers. Some convenience market companies are interested in using the training, and another state has inquired about the program.
Ms. Criswell said that 28 school districts in the state are smoke-free and do not allow smoking on their campuses. Other school districts have policies that ban smoking generally but allow smoking in some campus settings.
The number of cessation service participants in Quit Now Kentucky had risen in recent months but then declined, reflecting the impact of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-sponsored media campaign that ended recently. Ms. Criswell also covered a number of other aspects of the Quit Now program.
Ms. Criswell said that the CDC is sponsoring some Spanish-speaking anti-smoking material for Kentucky. Senator Hornback pointed out the United States has an English proficiency requirement for new citizens, such as those who speak Spanish.
Ms. Criswell said that about 34 percent of Kentuckians are affected by local smoke-free ordinances that ban smoking in places of employment and in public buildings. Twenty-three cities have smoke-free ordinances. Williamsburg passed the most recent ordinance.
The program received $2.12 million in tobacco settlement funds in FY 2013 and is budgeted to receive $2.09 million in FY 2014. It expects to receive $1.14 million in CDC funds extending from April 2013 to March 2014.
Senator Webb asked about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Ms. Criswell said that the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates cigarettes and other tobacco products, is developing guidance measures related to the marketing of the products. E-cigarettes cannot be used as tobacco cessation devices unless they meet FDA requirements.
As for possibly taxing e-cigarettes, she told Senator Webb that some states have considered doing so.
Responding to Representative Quarles, she said the CDC-sponsored program was statewide in scope, but also placed additional emphasis on some regions of the state.
Responding to Senator Parrett, Ms. Criswell said that the program will be looking at any correlations between areas that have passed smoke-free ordinances and declines in smoking rates.
In a response to Representative Shell, Irene Centers, Health Programs Branch Manager, said the state’s smoking rate dropped from 33 percent to 25 percent between 2000 and 2010. Ms. Crisswell indicated that Kentucky’s current quit success rate is 26 percent, above the national average.
Representative Shell also asked about county Agricultural Development Fund appropriations during the same period. Mr. Neaveill responded that county funding has declined from about $20 million per fiscal year when the state first started receiving tobacco settlement funds to the current figure of just over $14 million.
During a discussion of the funding to the cessation program, Representative McKee said that some argued, as the tobacco settlement legislation was being debated, that not enough was being appropriated for smoking cessation efforts. Ms. Criswell told Representative McKee that she felt the program has done a lot with the funds received.
Senator Hornback said the program should be commended for the recognition it is getting because of how well the cessation programs are doing.
Documents distributed during the meeting are available with meeting materials in the LRC Library. The meeting ended at approximately 11:30 a.m.