Indiana: Restore funding for tobacco prevention and cessation

The Senate has introduced their budget, which reduces funding for the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation program to $4.05 million. The House also has proposed a reduction in funding for the program from $8 million to $5 million.  This news is very disappointing.  Please take action to urge your legislators to continue level funding the program.

Washington: Our last chance to save tobacco prevention funding

Our state senate released a budget with ZERO DOLLARS allocated to prevention funding. The House is voting on the budget within the next few days. Urge your representatives to include tobacco prevention funding in the House budget.

Massachusetts: You can help prevent another tobacco addicted generation

A $1 tobacco tax increase will be voted on shortly in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It's possible that it could go into a transportation specific bill to address revenue issues, and the legislature predicts that it will raise another $165 million annually for our state.

Please take action today!

Colorado: It's Time to Protect Prevention Funding

A bill that will strengthen tobacco prevention efforts in the state of Colorado needs your attention. Help us improve programs designed to reduce youth smoking and help current smokers quit. SB 185 is a proposal that will better spend tobacco prevention funding.

West Virginia: Raise the tobacco tax!

West Virginia is facing a significant budget shortfall. We can help remedy our budget issues by increasing our tobacco tax, which is one of the lowest in the country, at 55 cents per pack.

Raising the cigarette tax by $1 as well as the tax on other tobacco products (like smokeless tobacco) will help West Virginia with its budget issues, keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit.

Contact your legislators today!

North Carolina: Restore funding to the tobacco control program!

Governor McCrory is currently working on his budget proposal--we must urge him to restore the $17.3 million budget for tobacco control activities.

We receive $140 million in tobacco settlement money, but not one dime is used to fund programs that keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit.

Urge your legislators and the Governor to restore funding to the tobacco control program today!

Montanans: Your Tobacco Use Prevention Program is (almost) back!

Thanks to actions by the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee, the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program is (almost) back!

After being completely defunded last year, the appropriations committee has restored funding. This is a great first step forward to keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit let's show them some love!

Indiana: Tell your legislators to continue funding the prevention program!

The amended budget distributed Friday by the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee slashes funding for tobacco prevention and cessation from $8 million to $5 million.

Studies show that smoking costs Indiana approximately $2.08 billion in health care costs every year and an additional $2.62 billion in lost worker productivity every year. The $8 million to fund our state program is really not much to ask for!

Urge your legislators to continue investing in our tobacco control program.

Kentucky Advocates: Vote YES: HB 190

HB 190 (Smoke-Free Kentucky)  passed the House Health and Welfare Committee overwhelmingly, now it's days away from the full House floor for a vote. Tell your representative to support this bill that would make all of Kentucky's workplaces smoke-free.

Kentucky Advocates: It's time for smoke-free air!

Kentuckians are exposed to secondhand smoke regularly in restaurants, bars and their workplaces. Let's make 2013 the year of smoke-free air!

New Yorkers: Budget is on the chopping block

Governor Cuomo's new budget proposal cuts funding across the board and will have dozens of public health programs vying for the same reduced level of funding. This will result in a cut of at least 10% to the tobacco prevention program and it's effective ad campaigns, quitlines and community-based cessation services.
 
Urge your legislators to protect the health of kids and protect funding for the tobacco control program.  With more than $2 billion of revenue that New York receives from cigarette taxes (and less than 2% of it going to programs to keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit), New York should be doing more, not less!

Weezer: You just became a part of the problem!
On January 8th, Weezer (a popular American band) performed at a tobacco-industry sponsored concert in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tobacco-sponsored concerts are outlawed in the U.S. and most nations because tobacco use remains the #1 cause or preventable death around the world. In fact, tobacco use is projected to take the lives of 1 billion people this century.

And Weezer just became part of the problem.

Please write to the band today ask them to pledge to never again play a tobacco-sponsored concert again.

Texas Advocates: Tell your lawmaker you want smoke-free air!

Contact your lawmaker and let them know that you support a comprehensive indoor smoke-free workplace law for Texas.