Getting key players to work together and defending against diversion--California.

Abstract

In 1988, Californians passed Proposition 99, which raised the tobacco tax from 10 cents to 35 cents and allocated 20% of the resulting revenues, approximately $100 million, for tobacco education and 5% for tobacco-related research. Seventy percent was allocated for health care costs and 5% for the environment. In this report, the authors provide an overview of the process of implementing the tobacco education program, which is followed by a more detailed review and analysis of the major impediments to the program, i.e., the diversion of a significant portion of the funding voters had earmarked for tobacco education and research and the battles for legislative reauthorization of Proposition 99 in the 1990s.