TOBACCO SETTLEMENT BILL RE-FILED

By the News Service of Florida

A bill aimed at pulling more cigarette makers into the state settlement with tobacco companies was filed again Wednesday. Sponsored by Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, SB 1414 would require non-settling Miami-based Dosal to join a group of other tobacco companies that settled a lawsuit by in the 1990s and have paid billions into the Lawton Chiles Endowment. Last session, a House measure (HB 1207) by Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, died in committee despite the support of big tobacco manufacturers that already pay into the settlement fund and business groups including Associated Industries of Florida. Backers want Dosal and other manufacturers that were not a part of Florida's settlement with tobacco manufacturers to pay a fee equal to the one paid by companies that agreed to the terms. The exemption, they claim, has allowed once-small companies like Dosal to sell cheaper cigarettes and gain market share. Dosal argued it was not part of deceptive trade practices that prompted the state to sue big tobacco companies and therefore should not have to pay.