Maine could have been smarter, and kept better control of the purposed money of the federal settlement, which did not come from liberals in the fed govt. It came from the Agribusiness backbone of US economy. It was not intended to perpetuate a medical foundation fiefdom and a dependent class.
Ref. my post #25. VA is a state that understands local control down to the county level, much as it understands States Rights delineated from federal progressivism with its strings. The original settlement with big tobacco had the states settle their Medicaid lawsuits against the tobacco industry for recovery of their tobacco-related health-care costs, and also exempted the companies from private tort liability regarding harm caused by tobacco use. That has been done already in the states by now, even in ME one would think— or is smoking still on the rise there?
Just wait until the Global Warming settlement— what would ME do with that money/commission? Jump on the liberal bandwagon while calling it progressive, and give wood stoves to the rural folk.
Root point: if tobacco is so deadly (and not just the smoke or the chew but the nicotine alone) then why didn’t the feds ban it outright? Because of the tax revenue it brings in, now re-distributed... see how it’s done. And just wait until Panama Red is a brand for RJ Reynolds, or the other big 3, of taxed & processed and even more carcinogenic pot cigarettes. The govt. is NOT benign at the federal level. VA was wise to do this, but mcaulliffe will surely want hitlery in office to control the payout to the state through the fed monitoring.
Should also say that ME tobacco settlement allocation is miniscule compared to say VA at 52 million pounds produced in 2013 or NC with 362 million pounds. With this much difference there is no way a state’s producers would not have the clout to affect how it is distributed-— fortunately.
Very sore subject in the South, brought on by busybodies again from academia centered in .... voila! the North.