Press Releases

Legislature Advances Proposals for Tobacco Prevention Funding

State Lawmakers Nearing Consensus to Make Lifesaving Investments This Year

St. Paul, Minn. – Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation today thanked Senate Taxes Chair Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) for including $5 million in new, one-time funding for tobacco prevention and treatment in the Senate Taxes Omnibus bill. There is growing consensus among legislative leaders and the Administration that additional tobacco prevention investments are needed this year. The House Taxes Omnibus bill, which is scheduled to be debated on the House floor today, dedicates $15 million annually to tobacco prevention. The Governor included $8 million a year for these lifesaving efforts in his revised budget released at the end of March.

“As we continue to weather a respiratory pandemic, Minnesota faces an urgent need to address stalled adult smoking rates and reverse the youth tobacco epidemic,” said Molly Moilanen, Vice President at ClearWay Minnesota^SM and Co-Chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation. “We are glad that the Governor, House and Senate leaders have put forward proposals to invest in proven tobacco prevention and treatment. Minnesota should continue our prevention and treatment investments until Big Tobacco no longer targets and harms Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ residents. And we should carry on these efforts until the industry no longer views our kids as ‘replacement smokers.’ Let’s work together to protect health and Minnesota kids by passing sustainable tobacco prevention funding this year.”

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth smoking and ending tobacco’s harm for good. The coalition supports comprehensive policies to end youth addiction, including sustainable prevention funding.

There is ample tobacco revenue collected by the state. At the end of March, two tobacco companies paid Minnesota $81 million in settlement back payments – and those companies will pay at least $10 million a year going forward. Those payments are on top of the nearly $760 million Minnesota collected last year in tobacco revenue ($607 million in taxes and $152 million in settlement fees).

Despite all this revenue, last year Minnesota spent only 1 percent of that total on tobacco prevention and treatment. Investing an additional $15 million a year would mean that Minnesota would invest two to three pennies of each dollar of this revenue on preventing tobacco use and treating addiction.

ClearWay Minnesota, the foundation created with 3 percent of the tobacco settlement, has provided the majority of funding for tobacco prevention in Minnesota over the past two decades. ClearWay Minnesota will sunset at the end of 2021, leaving a gap in prevention resources.

The need for prevention remains high. Even though Minnesota has achieved historically low levels of youth smoking, e-cigarette use has wiped out decades of progress to reduce youth tobacco use. The 2020 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey showed youth tobacco rates remain at epidemic levels. One in five Minnesota high-schoolers reported using e-cigarettes within the past 30 days, and 70 percent of youth e-cigarette users reported signs of dependence.

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the need for strong tobacco prevention and treatment programs, since smokers are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. To make matters worse, communities targeted by the tobacco industry, including Black and Indigenous Minnesotans, are some of the hardest hit by COVID-19.

Dedicating tobacco revenue to prevention and treatment will solve this funding gap and boost underfunded tobacco prevention programs at the Minnesota Department of Health.

More info:

• Fact sheet: Funding Tobacco Prevention and Treatment

About Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of saving Minnesota youth from a lifetime of addiction to tobacco. The coalition supports policies that reduce youth smoking and nicotine addiction, including increasing tobacco prices, ending the sale of menthol and all flavored tobacco products, and funding tobacco prevention and treatment programs.

Partners include: The African American Leadership Forum, Allina Health, Allina Health | Aetna, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Apple Tree Dental, Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota, Aurora/St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Becker County Energized, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation, Cancer Legal Care, CentraCare, Children’s Defense Fund-MN, Children’s Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota^SM, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio – CLUES, Dodge County Public Health, Education Minnesota, Essentia Health, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, A Healthier Southwest, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, Horizon Public Health, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, ISAIAH, JustUs Health, LAAMPP Alumni, Lake Region Healthcare, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, LPCFC – Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, March of Dimes, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, MHA – Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, Minnesota Oral Health Coalition, Minnesota Public Health Association, MNAAP – Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, ModelCities, NAMI Minnesota, North Memorial Health, NorthPoint Health & Wellness, Olmsted Medical Center, Open Cities Health Center, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe), PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health & Living, Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, ShiftMN, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, Steele County Public Health, Tobacco-Free Alliance, Twin Cities Medical Society, UCare, Vision In Living Life – Change is Possible, WellShare International and Zumbro Valley Medical Society. Find out more at: smokefreegenmn.org.