|
This bill
establishes the Trust for a Healthy Maine to receive money, begininng July 1,
2023, paid to the State pursuant to the tobacco settlement payment (TSP), as
defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 1514, subsection 7,
and from other sources and to distribute that money to state agencies or
designated agents of the State to fund tobacco use prevention and control,
ensure adequate resources for other disease prevention efforts, promote
public health, plan and deliver public health and prevention programs and
services, support accreditation of the Department of Health and Human
Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and support public
health workforce development. The bill also requires the allocation of TSP
funds to be determined by the Trust for a Healthy Maine board and this new
allocation process could lead to funding decreases in some areas currently
funded by the Fund for a Healthy Maine. The full impact of these changes
cannot be determined at this time and will only become known when future
decisions of the new board are made.
Additionally, the bill lowers the amount available for the purpose of
providing medical care in fiscal year 2023-24 to .40 of the TSP funds
projected to be received in fiscal year 2023-24 and for fiscal year 2024-25
to .20 of the TSP funds projected to be received in fiscal year 2024-25 and
to zero beginning in fiscal year 2025-26. This will decrease the funding for
providing medical care coming from the Fund for a Healthy Maine, which will
increase the genreral fund cost for that same purpose. The exact amount of
this increase will be dependant on the amount of each year's TSP. |