By Sarah LaddKentucky Lantern The Kentucky Senate’s version of the state budget proposal keeps the cuts made by the House to tobacco cessation. Barring any changes, the legislature will put just shy of $1.8 million in the 2026-2027 fiscal year and about $1.6 million in the 2027-2028 fiscal year i nto tobacco cessation efforts. The 2024 budget allocated nearly $1.9 million for 2024-2025 and $2 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Senate unveiled its edits to House Bill 500, the budget bill, on Wednesday, March 18. It passed the Senate unanimously. Doug Hogan, the government relations director in Kentucky for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, has asked lawmakers to invest $4 million per year toward tobacco prevention in a state where smoking kills nearly 9,000 Kentuckians every year and costs the state billions in health care costs. The funding cuts, Hogan said, come as “the need for funding for tobacco prevention programs has never been greater.” “Kentucky is losing ground when it comes to preventing youth from using tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches,” Hogan said. “A well-funded, fact-based tobacco control program is needed to counteract the $251 million per year that tobacco companies are spending on marketing their deadly and addictive products in Kentucky.” Meanwhile, some lawmakers are trying again this year to reroute Juul settlement dollars from the General Fund into a specific cessation trust fund. Senate Bill 74 passed the Health Services committee on Feb. 18 but was recommitted to the Appropriations and Revenue committee, where it has awaited a hearing since Feb. 19. House Bill 187 has been stuck in the Appropriations and Revenue committee awaiting a hearing since Jan. 14. Both propose putting the remaining money Juul, an e-cigarette company, owes Kentucky into prevention and cessation efforts aimed at youth. Settlement payments started in 2022, when Juul owed the state $14 million. About $6 million could go to cessation at this point if the legislature moved the funds this year. Senate President Robert Stivers told reporters Wednesday that there is an appetite to boost cessation and prevention efforts in this way, “but it’s not necessary to do it in a bill. “It’s kind of like our task force method. We want everybody to introduce (a bill) if they think there should be a task force, but we’re not going to pass a task force bill. We’ll just do it by an agreement between the House and the Senate to convene one. Those types of dollars for … intervention: Introduce your bill, but that’s all going to be done and rolled into the budget.” Hogan, meanwhile, renewed his plea with lawmakers to reroute those funds. “At a time when smoking still causes 37.2% of cancer deaths in Kentucky, now is the time to be investing more in tobacco prevention and cessation, not less,” he said. His organization “calls on the Kentucky Legislature to invest $4 million annually, as well as all revenue from JUUL settlement payments, in fact-based tobacco prevention and cessation to reduce tobacco use, protect kids and save lives.” The post Advocates warn Ky. is ‘losing ground’ on smoking cessation as legislature approves funding cuts appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less