Public health groups urge the Senate to maintain tobacco‑prevention media and local grants

Two tobacco‑prevention witnesses asked the Senate Appropriations subcommittee to preserve funding lines for tobacco prevention, including media dollars used to drive callers to the state's quit line and a grant line that supports local public health unit prevention programs.

Heather Austin, executive director of Tobacco Free North Dakota, told the committee she was "encouraging continued, sustainable and sufficient funding for the state tobacco prevention and control program" and urged the panel to resist a proposed cut of about $500,000 in the TCP media line item that supports statewide quit‑promotion campaigns. She said media funding spikes call volume to the state quit line and that past quit‑week promotions produced measurable increases in calls.

Chelsea Ridge, chair of the ND Public Health Association Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs section, asked that funding intended for local tobacco prevention be designated as a line item so that it is distributed to local public health units: "We would like to ask for a designated line item to ensure that local public health units, working directly with communities affected by tobacco and vaping health challenges receive that money." She noted master settlement and JUUL settlement funds historically supported statewide efforts and urged continuity.

Ending: both witnesses urged the committee to preserve House‑level support for tobacco prevention and to avoid cutting the media line item that supports cessation outreach; committee members asked clarifying questions about where those dollars currently sit in the departmental budget.