House appropriations subcommittee reviews tobacco settlement, stakeholders urge more prevention funding

LANSING ' The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Health on May 20, 2025 heard an overview of Michigan's tobacco settlement and tobacco tax revenues and testimony urging greater investment in prevention and cessation programs. Sydney Brown, fiscal analyst with the House Fiscal Agency, told the panel the state's estimated net Master Settlement Agreement receipts for fiscal year 2025 are $245,400,000 and that $58,800,000 is estimated to flow into the Merit Award Trust Fund this year.

The presentations and questions centered on how settlement and tax dollars are allocated, and whether those funds are being used to reduce tobacco use and youth vaping. "The estimated net master agreement revenue for fiscal year 25 is $245,400,000," Brown said during her overview. Stakeholder witnesses, including physician Brittney Taylor and Molly Maidenblick of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said prevention and cessation programs are underfunded in Michigan and urged reallocation or greater use of existing tobacco revenues.

Why it matters: Witnesses said tobacco use remains a leading preventable cause of death in Michigan and that most adult tobacco use begins in adolescence. They argued that much of the state's tobacco-related revenue is directed to other uses and that prevention funding has lagged behind federal recommendations and comparable states.

Brown outlined the major flows of tobacco settlement and tax money the…