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Indiana Will Recoup Some Tobacco Settlement Money

Indiana will recoup nearly 40 percent of the money it lost this year in a dispute over a 1990s tobacco settlement.  The money is used to help fund tobacco cessation programs, community health centers and the state’s children’s health insurance program.

Forty-six states reached a settlement with the four largest tobacco companies in 1998 that pays out more than $200 billion over 25 years.  More than 40 other tobacco companies have since joined the settlement and part of the deal requires states to ensure those companies are paying the correct amounts into an escrow account.  

An arbitrator last year ruled Indiana is one of six states that failed to adequately do so. 

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller appealed the ruling, but Thursday announced the state has instead reached an agreement with the tobacco companies. 

The arbitrator’s ruling initially cost the state nearly half of the $131 million it was supposed to receive in 2014. 

In the new settlement, the state will get $93 million this year and $124 million next year, with payments stabilizing in future years. 

In a statement, Zoeller says the new settlement provides the legislature with certainty as it prepares to write a new budget next session.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.