Proposed tobacco deal wins support from states

The $206 billion tobacco deal won near-unanimous support today as a deadline passed for states to accept the proposal aimed at resolving remaining state claims for the cost of treating sick smokers.

Massachusetts and Maryland, which had been considered potential defectors from the multistate agreement, today announced their support along with 12 other last-minute signers.Forty-three states, including Utah, indicated they would sign the agreement as of midday. Among the last-minute signees were Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

Decisions were awaited from Delaware, Illinois and Wyoming.

The settlement calls for companies to make payments to 46 states over 25 years and finance anti-smoking programs in exchange for resolving remaining state health-care claims for smokers.

"Quite frankly, there are many things that this agreement accomplishes, particularly in the public health arena, that we could not achieve through our lawsuit in Georgia," state Attorney General Thurbert Baker said. Georgia would get about $4.8 billion over 25 years.

Four states had reached settlements for a combined $40 billion before this proposal was created.

The cigarettemakers say they need a sufficient number of states to sign if they are to proceed with what would be the biggest U.S. civil settlement. The industry has declined to be more specific on how many states would constitute a sufficient number.

"I am optimistic that everyone will sign on," said Christine Gregoire, the Washington state attorney general who led a team of eight states through five months of negotiations with four big tobacco companies.

In exchange for payments over 25 years starting in 2000, the states would drop lawsuits that had posed an enormous legal and financial threat to the tobacco industry.

In addition to paying the states, the tobacco companies would spend $1.7 billion to study youth smoking and finance anti-smoking advertising and accept curbs on marketing practices that critics say appeal to children.