U.S. State and Local Issues

Spending on Tobacco Prevention: Colorado

Last updated December 04, 2012

  FY2013 FY2012
State Rank 8 25
State Spending on Tobacco Prevention $22.6 million $6.5 million
% of CDC Recommended Spending
($54.4 million)		 41.5% 11.9%

Summary: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Colorado spend $54.4 million a year to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco prevention program.  Colorado currently allocates $22.6 million a year for tobacco prevention and cessation.  This is 41.5% of the CDC’s recommendation and ranks Colorado 8th among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs.  Colorado’s spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 7.6% of the estimated $295 million in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes.

Background and Recent Developments: After several years of funding cuts Colorado has restored funding to tobacco prevention. In FY2013, the state appropriated $22.6 million in state funds to its tobacco prevention and cessation programs. This is a 247 percent increase from the previous year.

Colorado does not currently spend any of the annual funds from the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), the legal settlement with the tobacco industry, on tobacco prevention and cessation. Its program is funded entirely through tobacco tax revenues.  In 2004, Colorado voters approved Amendment 35 – a constitutional tax increase on both cigarettes and other tobacco products – by a margin of 61.4 percent. The revenue was designated for health care services and tobacco education to improve the health of all Coloradans.  In 2005 the Colorado legislature instituted policies and regulations to implement the tobacco-prevention program.

The amendment which authorized the cigarette tax increase includes a provision that allows funds to be diverted from tobacco prevention and cessation programs if the legislature declares a fiscal emergency, which has been the case for the past few years. The legislature did not declare a fiscal emergency for FY2013, setting the stage for tobacco prevention and cessation funding to be restored to a level comparable to that of previous years.

In addition, Colorado is receiving $2.3 million in federal funds dedicated to tobacco prevention and control:

  • $1.3 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a 12-month grant for the period beginning April 2012 (from annual appropriations).

  • $962,268 from the Food and Drug Administration for enforcement of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, including the provision regarding tobacco sales to minors.