Legislators appropriated 75% of the estimated $383.4 million in annual tobacco settlement revenue for the Michigan Merit Award Trust Fund. The trust fund will award scholarships to Michigan students who do well on MEAP tests. Of the approximately $90.4 million left over, legislators suggested funding to a few other programs including:

A one-time $75 million allocation for career training at community colleges and vocational education centers;

 

$50 million for health and aging research and development;

 

$30 million for a new prescription drug assistance program for seniors;

 

A one-time $10 million grant for long-term care innovation grants; and

 

Interest earning on the non-scholarship 25% to the Council of Michigan Foundations for youth and senior health programs

The tobacco settlement revenue accrued out of a lawsuit filed by the state of Michigan against Philip Morris tobacco suppliers for health damages and expenses due to tobacco consumption.

None of the tobacco settlement revenue will be used for tobacco use prevention despite strong evidence from other states with anti-smoking campaigns that prevention works. In the first three years of California's Proposition 99, smoking fell by more than 40% and the state has kept its teen smoking rates 5 to 10 percent below the rest of the nation. Currently, Michigan is only spending $5.5 million a year on anti-smoking efforts compared to California's $129.5 million and is suffering from the tenth highest smoking rate in the nation. It is important for advocates and policy makers to keep the tobacco health problem in Michigan in mind. These rates wont decline without public demand that this public health issue is addressed.

The lawsuit affirmed the societal consequences of smoking and addressed the problem of tobacco use in Michigan, which costs more lives than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined.