U.S. State and Local Issues

Spending on Tobacco Prevention: Illinois

Last updated December 04, 2012

  FY2013 FY2012
State Rank 33 33
State Spending on Tobacco Prevention $11.1 million $9.5 million
% of CDC Recommended Spending
($157.0 million)		 7.1% 6.1%

Summary: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Illinois spend $157.0 million a year to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco prevention program.  Illinois currently allocates $11.1 million a year for tobacco prevention and cessation.  This is 7.1% of the CDC’s recommendation and ranks Illinois 33rd among the states in the funding of tobacco prevention programs.  Illinois’s spending on tobacco prevention amounts to 0.9% of the estimated $1.2 billion in tobacco-generated revenue the state collects each year from settlement payments and tobacco taxes.

Background and Recent Developments: Illinois deposits its tobacco settlement money into the Tobacco Settlement Recovery Fund and appropriates it through the annual budget process. The FY2013 budget allocated $11.1 million in state funding for tobacco prevention, an increase from the amount allocated in FY2012. While Illinois does fund several important tobacco control programs, the state is not pursuing a CDC-based statewide comprehensive program and the use of these funds is not consistent or coordinated.  State funds are designated to a state quitline, to the Department of Public Health programs, and to local health departments for prevention and cessation activities. In recent years, tobacco prevention funds were not made available for use until mid-year, which resulted in programs that were either interrupted or ended prematurely, dramatically impacting their effectiveness. Equally disappointing is a lack of overall accountability for funding allocated to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), with spending priorities that do not correlate to CDC Best Practice Recommendations.  In previous budgets, the General Assembly has allocated $5 million in tobacco settlement funding to IDPH.  While these funds could be used to coordinate a statewide evaluation campaign or for enforcement of the state smoke-free law and/or surveillance, more than half of this money has been diverted to non-tobacco programs. As a result, opportunities for worthwhile programming were missed and funds were lost.

In addition, Illinois is receiving $2.7 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).

  • $858,768 from the Prevention and Public Health Fund in the new health care reform law for the period beginning August 1, 2012. 

  • $728,230 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.