S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                 2971--A

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 30, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and  when  printed  to be committed to the Committee on Investigations
  and Government Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on  Investi-
  gations  and  Government  Operations in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
  sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as
  amended and recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT  to  amend the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to
  allocating certain revenue to the tobacco use prevention  and  control
  program  fund  for  programs to help smokers quit and to keep children
  from smoking

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Statement  of  legislative  intent. The legislature finds
that:
  New York state has raised  over  twelve  billion  dollars  in  tobacco
revenues  over the past seven years, yet only three and one-half percent
of these revenues have been spent on the state's Tobacco Use  Prevention
and Control Program.
  In  the  year  2013,  New York state spent only sixteen percent of the
amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  on
tobacco  control.    New York state was once a leader in tobacco control
support spending, but now ranks twenty-first in the United States.
  From the years 2007-2013, funding for the New York State  Tobacco  Use
Prevention  and  Control  Program was cut by more than half. This inade-
quate funding level for the program stands in contrast to promises  made
in  1998  by  public  officials  to invest state dollars earned from the
Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in tobacco control programs.
  The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement states that its purpose is  to
"achieve  for the Settling States and their citizens significant funding
for the advancement of public health" and "the implementation of  impor-
tant tobacco-related public health measures."

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06273-02-6
              

S. 2971--A                          2

  When  more  adequately  funded,  the  State Tobacco Use Prevention and
Control Program achieved successes in the effort to  curb  tobacco  use.
Teenage  and adult tobacco use rates had fallen faster in New York state
than in the United States as a whole.
  Limited  funding prevents the State Tobacco Use Prevention and Control
Program from reaching the most vulnerable populations with  the  highest
rates  of smoking, individuals with limited income. A recent analysis by
the American Cancer Society of New York and New Jersey found  that  lung
cancer rates in upstate New York are higher than the national average.
  Tobacco use takes a terrible toll on New York. In the year 2009, twen-
ty-five thousand four hundred lives were prematurely lost due to tobacco
use,  with  an  estimated  nine thousand six hundred ten of those deaths
resulting from cancer. Tobacco costs  New  Yorkers  over  eight  billion
dollars in health care costs, including nearly two billion seven hundred
thousand dollars in Medicaid expenditures.
  The  legislature therefore declares that New York state should fulfill
the promise made by state policy makers at the time of the State Tobacco
Master Settlement Agreement to use tobacco revenues for programs to help
smokers quit and to keep children from smoking. The legislature  further
declares that funding for the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program
should  be  incrementally increased on an annual basis over the next ten
years to reach the level recommended by the United  States  Centers  for
Disease Control and Prevention that would be current by the year 2024.
  S  2. Section 482 of the tax law, as amended by section 2 of part T of
chapter 61 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
  S 482. Deposit and disposition of revenue. (a) All taxes, fees, inter-
est and penalties collected or received by the commissioner  under  this
article  and  article  twenty-A  of  this chapter shall be deposited and
disposed of pursuant to the provisions of section one  hundred  seventy-
one-a  of  this  chapter,  AS ADDED BY CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE OF THE LAWS OF
NINETEEN HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT, AS AMENDED.  (b) From the taxes,  inter-
est  and  penalties  collected  or  received  by  the commissioner under
sections four hundred seventy-one and four hundred seventy-one-a of this
article, effective on and after March first,  two  thousand,  forty-nine
and  fifty-five  hundredths,  and effective on and after February first,
two thousand two, forty-three and seventy hundredths; and  effective  on
and  after  May  first,  two  thousand  two,  sixty-four  and fifty-five
hundredths; and effective on and after April first, two thousand  three,
sixty-one  and twenty-two hundredths percent; and effective on and after
June third, two  thousand  eight,  seventy  and  sixty-three  hundredths
percent; and effective on and after July first, two thousand ten, seven-
ty-six percent collected or received under those sections must be depos-
ited to the credit of the tobacco control and insurance initiatives pool
to  be  established  and  distributed  by  the commissioner of health in
accordance with section  twenty-eight  hundred  seven-v  of  the  public
health  law.    NOTWITHSTANDING  THE  PROVISIONS  OF SECTION ONE HUNDRED
SEVENTY-ONE-A OF THIS CHAPTER, AS ADDED BY  CHAPTER  SIXTY-NINE  OF  THE
LAWS  OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  SEVENTY-EIGHT,  AS  AMENDED, FROM THE TAXES
COLLECTED OR RECEIVED BY THE  COMMISSIONER  PURSUANT  TO  THIS  ARTICLE,
EFFECTIVE  ON  AND  AFTER APRIL FIRST, TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN, FIFTY-TWO
MILLION DOLLARS AND, EFFECTIVE FROM APRIL FIRST, TWO  THOUSAND  EIGHTEEN
UNTIL  APRIL  FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX AT LEAST FIVE PERCENT SHALL
ANNUALLY BE ADDITIONALLY CREDITED TO AND DEPOSITED IN  THE  TOBACCO  USE
PREVENTION  AND  CONTROL  PROGRAM  FUND  ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION
EIGHTY-SIX OF THE STATE FINANCE LAW, PROVIDED  HOWEVER,  THAT  EFFECTIVE
APRIL  FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT CREDITED TO AND

S. 2971--A                          3

DEPOSITED IN THE TOBACCO USE PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAM FUND  ESTAB-
LISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION EIGHTY-SIX OF THE STATE FINANCE LAW SHALL NOT
BE  LESS  THAN  THE  AMOUNT RECOMMENDED BY THE UNITED STATES CENTERS FOR
DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION ON SUCH DATE.
  S  3.  The  state finance law is amended by adding a new section 86 to
read as follows:
  S 86. TOBACCO USE PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAM  FUND.  1.  THERE  IS
HEREBY ESTABLISHED IN THE JOINT CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER AND THE
COMMISSIONER  OF  TAXATION AND FINANCE A SPECIAL FUND TO BE KNOWN AS THE
"TOBACCO USE PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAM FUND".
  2. THE TOBACCO USE PREVENTION AND CONTROL PROGRAM FUND  SHALL  CONSIST
OF  MONEYS  APPROPRIATED  THERETO,  AND FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM ANY OTHER
FUND OR SOURCES INCLUDING TAX REVENUE REQUIRED TO BE  DEPOSITED  THEREIN
PURSUANT TO SECTION FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO OF THE TAX LAW.
  3.  THE  MONEYS  RECEIVED  BY  SUCH FUND SHALL BE EXPENDED PURSUANT TO
APPROPRIATION ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES  OF  IMPLEMENTING  THE  TOBACCO  USE
PREVENTION  AND  CONTROL  PROGRAM  PURSUANT  TO SECTION THIRTEEN HUNDRED
NINETY-NINE-II OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
  S 4. This act shall take effect April 1, 2018. Effective  immediately,
the  addition,  amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
sary for the implementation of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are
authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.