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House Appropriations members hear primer on tobacco settlement fund and its shrinking balance
Summary
Emily Byrne of the Joint Fiscal Office told the House Appropriations Committee that Vermont’s Tobacco Settlement Fund is increasingly reliant on prior one‑time payments and that projected annual settlement receipts will not cover current appropriations beyond FY 2026 without changes.
Emily Byrne, a policy analyst with the Joint Fiscal Office, briefed the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday on the sources, recent uses and projected balance of the state’s Tobacco Settlement Fund.
Byrne told the committee the fund’s main revenue source is the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between tobacco manufacturers and states, and that Vermont receives a fixed share of the national payments: “the tobacco settlement fund, it’s sort of main source of revenue comes from the master settlement agreement that was agreed to by 52 States and territories, in 1998 with the tobacco companies,” she said. Byrne said that Vermont’s share has generally been near $20 million in recent years but is forecast to fall over time.
The presentation laid out recent balances and appropriations. Byrne said the fund received about $24 million from the national settlement in fiscal 2024 and…
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