LETTER YOU CAN SEND TO YOUR LEGISLATORS AND GOV. BLAGOJEVICH – Send on your letterhead. To find your legislators and contact information, visit www.legis.state.il.us and click on "Legislator Lookup"
DATE:
The Honorable Rod Blagojevich (or your legislator's name)
Governor of Illinois (Illinois Senator/Representative)
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Dear Governor Blagojevich,
Without question, Illinois faces an unprecedented uphill battle to balance the budget and cure our financial ills. However, we can't sacrifice Illinois' physical health for short-term fiscal health. The budget needs long-term solutions, not a quick fix from bonds financed by the state's share of the Master Settlement Agreement.
Wisconsin's $5.9 billion was reduced to only $1.3 billion, less than 33 cents on the dollar. Even worse, a 25-year revenue stream just went up in smoke to balance the state budget, leaving any future tobacco prevention efforts without a clear funding source. Missouri said good-bye to 30 percent of their settlement and may dump even more for a short-term solution to a long-range budget problem. At the same time, Missouri allocates nothing for tobacco prevention programming in FY 2003.
The more than 4,800 members of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP) implore you to preserve the MSA payment structure, and dedicate at least 25 percent of those funds to fighting tobacco use and the impact of secondhand smoke on our health.
I see the devastating effects of tobacco use every day in my patients. As a family physician treating patients of all ages and backgrounds, I see firsthand how widespread tobacco use is in our state. The only way to make a significant impact to save lives and healthcare costs is by using a comprehensive approach. Tobacco knows no age or language barriers, and our tobacco prevention and cessation efforts must be just as far reaching.
As you know, Illinois receives around $300 million annually from its settlement with the four major tobacco companies as part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). This annual payment gives Illinois an unprecedented opportunity to reduce the toll tobacco use takes in lives and dollars. So far we have seen too little tobacco money dedicated to reducing tobacco use; but $1.2 billion of state Medicaid dollars were spent treating tobacco-caused illnesses in 2002 alone.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Illinois needs to invest between $69 and $175 million a year to achieve drastic reductions in smoking rates. In FY 2003, funding for tobacco prevention was slashed to $12 million, a paltry 17 percent of the CDC's minimum recommendation. Dedicating a fraction of the incoming MSA funds ensure that we can meet this recommendation. Investing in tobacco prevention and cessation will guarantee that our state realizes maximum gain from the settlement for the reasons we fought the tobacco industry in the first place.
The Master Settlement Agreement is a win for Illinois. Don't pour these funds down the drain to fix today's budget holes.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
VOTING ADDRESS
PHONE AND EMAIL