Bill Text: FL S1802 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Cigarette Surcharge Revenue Uses [WPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Health and Human Services Appropriations [S1802 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S1802-Introduced.html

---

 
Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 1802 
 
By Senator Gardiner 
9-00720A-10                                           20101802__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to cigarette surcharge revenue uses; 
3         amending s. 210.011, F.S.; reducing the amount of 
4         cigarette surcharge revenues deposited into the Health 
5         Care Trust Fund; appropriating a portion of cigarette 
6         surcharge revenues to the Department of Children and 
7         Family Services for certain purposes; prohibiting the 
8         use of such portion to supplant certain general 
9         revenue funds allocated to the department; providing 
10         an effective date. 
11 
12         WHEREAS, compared to the general population, individuals 
13  with mental illness have higher rates of chronic health problems 
14  and premature death due to long-term tobacco use, and 
15         WHEREAS, the life span of an individual with mental illness 
16  is, on average, 20 to 25 years shorter than that of the average 
17  American, and most of these individuals die from smoking-related 
18  diseases, and 
19         WHEREAS, it is estimated that 200,000 of the 435,000 annual 
20  deaths from smoking in the United States occur among individuals 
21  with chronic mental illness and substance use disorders, and 
22         WHEREAS, compared to the general population, the rate of 
23  cardiovascular disease is 2.3 times higher, the rate of 
24  respiratory disease is 3.2 times higher, and the rate of lung 
25  cancer is 3 times higher among individuals with mental illness, 
26  and 
27         WHEREAS, tobacco use by individuals with mental illness is 
28  a major public health issue that needs immediate attention 
29  through focused cessation programs, and 
30         WHEREAS, 75 percent of individuals with mental illness 
31  smoke 3 to 4 times the rate of the general population, consuming 
32  44 percent of all cigarettes consumed in the United States, and 
33         WHEREAS, Florida’s public mental health system is severely 
34  underfunded and currently ranks 49th in per capita spending on 
35  mental health care, NOW, THEREFORE, 
36 
37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
38 
39         Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 210.011, Florida 
40  Statutes, is amended, and subsection (10) is added to that 
41  section, to read: 
42         210.011 Cigarette surcharge levied; collection.— 
43         (9) Ninety-five percent of the revenue produced from the 
44  surcharge levied under this section shall be deposited into the 
45  Health Care Trust Fund within the Agency for Health Care 
46  Administration. 
47         (10) Five percent of the revenue produced from the 
48  surcharge levied under this section shall be appropriated to the 
49  Department of Children and Family Services for the purpose of 
50  expanding community-based mental health services and providing 
51  programs to reduce the rate of smoking among persons with mental 
52  illness. These funds shall not be used to supplant general 
53  revenue funds allocated to the Department of Children and Family 
54  Services as of July 1, 2009. 
55         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.