U.S. State and Local Issues

Spending on Tobacco Prevention: Georgia

Last updated December 04, 2012

  FY2013 FY2012
State Rank 43 40
State Spending on Tobacco Prevention $750,000 $2 million
% of CDC Recommended Spending
($116.5 )		 0.6% 1.7%

Summary: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Georgia spend $116.5 million a year to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco prevention program.  Georgia currently allocates $750,000 a year for tobacco prevention and cessation.  This is 0.6% of the CDC’s recommendation and ranks Georgia 43rd among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs.  Georgia’s spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 0.2% of the estimated $365 million in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes.

Background and Recent Developments: Georgia places one-third of its tobacco settlement funds in the One-Georgia Fund, established in 2000 to support economic development initiatives, and folds the remaining two-thirds of its payments into the state’s general budget process. Settlement funds placed in the Fund have been subdivided into two funds.The EDGE (Economic Development, Growth and Expansion) Fund helps Georgia communities compete with localities in other states to attract business. The Equity Fund has been used for a variety of projects, including expanding water and sewer systems to support industrial parks, improving tourism and recreation in the state, shrimp and fish aquaculture, and assistance to technical colleges.

Total state spending on tobacco prevention and cessation for FY2013 will be $750,000, a 60 percent cut from FY2012 and FY2011 spending levels.  These funds will be allocated to the state quitline.

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

  • $1.1 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).

  • $664,179 from the Prevention and Public Health Fund in the new health care reform law for the period beginning August 1, 2012. 

  • $498,831 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.