Rival Tobacco Measures Spur a Big-Bucks Battle

Supporters of competing Measures G and H on the county’s November ballot say their spending may top $1 million for radio, direct mail and perhaps TV ads to determine how $30 million a year in tobacco settlement funds is spent.

“The campaign is on,” said Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John Moorlach, who drafted Measure G, which would use 40% of the money to pay down the county’s bankruptcy debt, 42% for health care and 18% for jails.

The political battle was guaranteed last week when an Orange County Superior Court judge rejected the Board of Supervisor’s bid to remove Measure H from the Nov. 7 countywide ballot.

Measure H would spend no money on debt relief. It would direct 80% to health care and anti-tobacco programs, with the remaining 20% for law enforcement.

That initiative calls for spending 19% of the total on services to seniors and the disabled, including transportation, long-term care and in-home support; 23% on indigent care by emergency and on-call physicians; 12% on tobacco prevention and anti-addiction and mental health programs; 20% on community, mobile and hospital clinics; 6% for hospitals to cover uncompensated emergency and trauma care; and 20% on law enforcement, which could include jail construction.

Orange County is expected to receive $765 million over 25 years, its share of the state’s $21.3 billion from the settlement reached between major tobacco companies and state attorneys general around the nation.

Measure H, supported by a coalition, of health care advocates and a majority of the county’s elected officials in Sacramento and Washington, qualified for the ballot with 115,000 signatures.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors filed a court challenge to Measure H, saying it was unconstitutional because it would tie the hands of future boards of supervisors.

While they awaited a hearing, supervisors approved Moorlach’s initiative and designated it Measure G, which places it on the Nov. 7 ballot ahead of Measure H. The county has already begun using this year’s allotment, spending $38 million on debt reduction.

Last week, Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel refused to pull Measure H from the ballot, saying he did not want to set a precedent by voiding a ballot initiative before it reached voters.

The county’s powerful health care community, made up of physicians, hospitals and community clinics, already has collected $203,000, according to campaign fund reports filed in July. Supporters expect to raise $400,000 more to get across a clear message: Tobacco is harmful and most of the money from the settlement with tobacco companies--over health care costs due to lung cancer and other harm by tobacco products--should be used to cover health costs, not jails or debt.

Michele Revelle, executive director of the Orange County Medical Assn., said health care for low-income and uninsured patients is severely underfunded by the county, and that private hospitals and clinics bear the brunt of rising health costs.

She said the county shouldn’t look to the tobacco settlement windfall to pay down its debt.

“The county already has a plan to pay off their bankruptcy debt,” Revelle said. “They bragged about it and they should stick to it. It’s working.”

Putting more money into county health care is long overdue, she said, noting that in the 10 years ending in 1999, 14 hospitals in the county have closed, six with emergency rooms.

“This doesn’t affect just people who aren’t insured, but you and me and everybody. If emergency trauma centers continue to close, we’re all in trouble.”

Many health care professionals also oppose Measure G because it creates an oversight committee with the authority to change the tobacco allocation.

“That committee would have no commitment to health care dollars,” said Dr. J. Brennan Cassidy, immediate past president of the medical association.

Meanwhile, Measure G supporters are marshaling their forces. Moorlach said he has just begun fund-raising but has set a goal of $500,000.

He said he wants to win the support of residents who are still “very concerned about the bankruptcy debt” and who seek a blend of paying for debt and medical needs.

“Voting for Measure G is tantamount to paying your mortgage off early and saving on interest,” Moorlach. “I think they’re going to lose the battle of common sense here. My research is showing that people really want to pay down this debt.”

During his research, Moorlach said, he discovered that hospital giant Tenet Healthcare Corp. contributed $70,000 in support of Measure H, as reflected in campaign fund reports.

Moorlach noted that Tenet paid Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Barbakow $22.5 million last year, and almost $74 million in salary and options since he took the post seven years ago. The nation’s second-largest hospital chain owns, and operates Irvine Medical Center, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Western Medical Centers in Anaheim and Santa Ana.

“Here’s a corporation that has grown fivefold to earn $302 million in profits and has a chief executive who earns millions,” he said. “And the county has to help them and other hospitals?”

Cassidy responded: “Then why have 14 hospitals in Orange County closed?”