MONTPELIER — Last Thursday, the state of Vermont received $58.9 million from tobacco companies, with $29 million of the total amount the result of a recent settlement with tobacco companies.
Vermont receives an annual payment each April from these companies related to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA).
The MSA requires signatory tobacco companies to collectively pay Vermont millions of dollars annually, in perpetuity.
The Vermont legislature will determine how the settlement funds will be spent.
Legislative leaders and the Governor have pledged their intention to use half of the settlement funds to fight opiate addiction in Vermont.
States and tobacco companies signed the MSA in 1998 to settle states’ claims that major tobacco companies were deceiving the public about the health consequences of smoking.
