Tobacco Money Initiative Drive Starts

Armed with endorsements from six Republican and Democratic legislators, Orange County health care advocates began gathering signatures Thursday for a November ballot measure to gain control of the county’s $900-million share of the national tobacco liability settlement.

The health care coalition must obtain 71,206 valid signatures of registered voters by the end of May to win a place on the Nov. 7 ballot for the measure, which would require that 80% of the settlement money be spent on health care and anti-smoking efforts.

The effort comes after health care advocates reached a stalemate with the Orange County Board of Supervisors over how to spend the money, coalition members said.

Supervisors, who oppose the proposed initiative, have voted twice in recent months to spend the bulk of the estimated $30 million to $38 million a year in tobacco settlement funds on jail projects and reducing the county’s bankruptcy debt. Health care, under those plans, would get less than $8 million a year over the next decade, with the possibility that more could be allocated in subsequent years.

The health coalition--Citizens Health Alliance to Reinvest the Tobacco Settlement, or CHARTS--also announced endorsements for their campaign from U.S. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), state Assembly Minority Leader Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), and Assembly members Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) and Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove).

Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) is one of the original organizers of the coalition, which also has the backing of Msgr. Jaime Soto, vicar for Hispanic affairs for the Diocese of Orange, and former Supervisor and state Sen. Marian Bergeson. The American Assn. of Retired Persons in Orange County also has committed to send a mailing to its 100,000 members as part of the petition drive, coalition members said.

CHARTS includes the county’s major physician groups, hospitals and health clinics, as well as several community-based religious organizations. In its campaign, the coalition is using both volunteer and paid signature gatherers, Orange County Medical Assn. spokeswoman Michele Revelle said.

The measure would allocate 80% of tobacco funds each year to health care programs and 20% to the Sheriff’s Department. Health funds would go toward senior health care and transportation, emergency rooms, community clinics, mental health facilities and anti-smoking and drug addiction efforts.

The initiative includes an escape clause that would allow supervisors to appropriate some or all of the annual settlement in a fiscal emergency, defined as a decline of 10% or more in the county’s general fund.