Hawaii weighs its
options on proposed
tobacco settlement

Bronster confers today with
governor and seeks health
industry input

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

If Hawaii joins with other states in a proposed settlement of lawsuits against the tobacco industry, it would get in excess of $1.1 billion of the $206 billion payout, according to state Attorney General Margery Bronster.

Bronster is scheduled to meet with Gov. Ben Cayetano today to discuss the state's options, which include going ahead with its own lawsuit against the tobacco giants. The lawsuit is set for trial in 1999 in Circuit Court.

Bronster said she also wants to hear what the health community thinks of the proposed settlement, which would prohibit tobacco companies from:

Using billboard advertising;

Putting logos on T-shirts, caps and merchandise;

Using cartoon characters that critics contend are aimed at luring youths into smoking.

Surrender right to sue?

The settlement also calls for the states to give up their right to sue tobacco firms in the future, which, critics argue, is the industry's main goal.

Hawaii and 37 other states have until Friday to say whether they will join in the settlement negotiated by the attorneys general for California, New York, Washington, North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

If not enough states sign on, the tobacco companies may walk away from the deal, Bronster said.

Four states are excluded -- Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Minnesota -- because they have already settled suits against the industry.

Under the settlement, the amount Hawaii would receive would fall if the industry sells fewer cigarettes in the future and would rise if the industry sells more.

The amount paid to Hawaii and other states also would fall if Congress passed new laws that take money from the tobacco industry and pass it to states for public health programs.

The proposed deal comes five months after a more comprehensive, $368.5 billion agreement to settle state lawsuits died in Congress. That failure prompted state prosecutors to craft a narrower settlement that needs no approval from lawmakers -- only from states, tobacco companies and judges presiding over state lawsuits.

At the same time, the new proposal does not include some anti-tobacco restrictions that were included in the first proposal, but which require federal legislation.

Bronster sees good points

Bronster said she sees many pluses in the proposed deal.

The settlement would achieve more than what the state could get at trial, such as limitations on cigarette advertising.

If Hawaii becomes part of the settlement, the first of 25 annual payments to the state would begin in the year 2000, Bronster said.

Hawaii would also be eligible for other funds provided by the industry to counter cigarette advertising and for health-related research, Bronster added.

The payouts that Hawaii would get would not be earmarked for health and anti-tobacco use -- they would go to the state general fund -- so it would be up to the Legislature to determine whether there should be any special uses for the funds from a tobacco settlement, Bronster said.

The state early last year sued the leading tobacco conglomerates and their research and public relations firms to recoup the millions spent on health-care for isle residents who suffer and die from tobacco-induced diseases.

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The Boston Globe contributed to this report.