[S-H]Miss. Supreme Court rules against diverting tobacco money to Partnership
The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that if Mississippi wants an anti-tobacco program, the Legislature must provide funding. Former Attorney General Mike Moore’s appeal of a 2006 order that decreased funding to the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi was rejected by the justices in a 6-1 decision.
Gov. Haley Barbour, the Medicaid program and the Health Care Trust Fund argued the money was illegally diverted to the Partnership.
Barbour said Thursday that the Supreme Court’s decision “emphatically confirms what has always been obvious - only the Mississippi Legislature can appropriate the state’s money.”
“It’s a shame it look a long, drawn-out lawsuit to stop this illegal and unconstitutional diversion of taxpayer money,” Barbour said in a statement.
The Partnership was created later as a pilot program using separate payments from cigarette makers. When the money for the program ran out, Moore - who filed the tobacco lawsuit - obtained a December 2000 court order from Chancery Judge Jaye Bradley that directed $20 million a year of Mississippi’s annual settlement payments to the Partnership.
Moore said loss of the Partnership’s programs was a sad day for Mississippi.
“We go from a state who led the nation in the tobacco fight and had the No. 1 tobacco prevention program in America ... we go from first place to last place,” Moore said in a telephone interview.
Posted by kate at 11:33 AM in Legislature, Tobacco, Governor, MS Newspapers, News | Email this entry
Comments:
Our Cancer-Loving Gov wins again! Once again he signs the death warrant for thousands of Mississippians!
Posted by on 06/17 at 03:55 PM | #
