Scarcnet News Summaries (Advocacy Institute)
Tobacco Companies Establish Trust Fund For Tobacco Farmers
Length: pages
Abstract
Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Lorillard and Brown & Williamson have agreed to establish a $5.15 billion trust fund for tobacco farmers to help compensate them for losses incurred as a result of the multi-state tobacco settlement.The fund will be financed by contributions over 12 years from the cigarette makers. The money "will go directly to farmers who are losing income . . . to prevent the farmers from having to bear the burden and brunt of this settlement," said North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt. The announcement came yesterday after two days of tense negotiations between the industry and governors of tobacco-producing states. Each state's share of the trust fund will be based on its percentage of the national settlement. The states involved in the negotiations were: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Alabama and Ohio.
Sources: Associated Press, "Tobacco Fund For Farmers," NEW YORK TIMES, January 22, 1999, p. A20; Martha Hamilton, "Tobacco Firms To Aid Farmers," WASHINGTON POST, January 22, 1999, p. E3; "Cigarette Companies To Start Fund For Farmers," USA TODAY, January 22,1999, p. A3.