§ 8.21.010. Purpose.

(a)

In 1998 over forty states, including California, reached a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with a group of tobacco product manufacturers that concludes litigation initiated against the tobacco companies under a variety of state consumer protection and/or anti-trust laws.

(b)

The Master Settlement Agreement is a comprehensive, complex, and long-term arrangement intended generally to reduce the use of tobacco products, educate the public on the dangers of tobacco use, and provide financial compensation to governmental entities that incurred costs over the years related to tobacco use.

(c)

San Luis Obispo County, under the agreed statewide formula, will receive an estimated two and a half million dollars annually for the next twenty years.

(d)

The board of supervisors has made a commitment to expend these funds for the sole purpose of supporting health care programs in the county. In addition to funding increases in on-going health agency programs, mental health therapy, tobacco control, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention, the board also established a new preventive health grant program, which uses tobacco settlement dollars to pay for a variety of programs designed to prevent disease and enable county residents to reach and maintain optimal health stability and independence.

(e)

This chapter establishes the purpose and use of the tobacco settlement funds, and establishes the appropriate public oversight and accountability that is lawful and necessary in the disbursement of public funds. The adoption of this chapter establishes the governing framework in which the tobacco settlement funds are to be allocated and used for the public good. This chapter commits the county to continue the board of supervisors' previous policy, that the tobacco settlement funds will be used solely for the purpose of delivering health related programs and services to the residents of San Luis Obispo County.

(Ord. 2960 § 1 (part), 2002)