HELENA – Attorney General Steve Bullock says Montana has received $35.2 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement.
The state’s payment included $8.5 million in so-called “strategic contribution” payments — additional money because the state’s attorneys played a substantial role in the lawsuit.
The settlement imposed sweeping changes in tobacco advertising, banned tobacco companies from targeting children, allocated funds for tobacco education and provided annual payments to the states based on the number of cigarettes sold in the U.S.
Bullock says 40 percent of the payment, or about $14 million, will be deposited into the tobacco trust fund; 32 percent will go to tobacco prevention/cessation programs; 17 percent to the Children’s Health Insurance Program and 11 percent to the state’s general fund.
The state has received more than $300 million from the settlement, which is to be paid out through 2025.