§ 39-28-201 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 39-28-201

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 39: Taxation
• Art.: Cigarette Tax

Text

(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares:

(a) That cigarette smoking presents serious public health concerns to the
state and to the citizens of the state. The surgeon general has determined that
smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and other serious diseases, and that
there are hundreds of thousands of tobacco-related deaths in the United States
each year. These diseases most often do not appear until many years after the
person in question begins smoking.

(b) That cigarette smoking also presents serious financial concerns for the
state. Under certain health-care programs, the state may have a legal obligation to
provide medical assistance to eligible persons for health conditions associated with
cigarette smoking, and those persons may have a legal entitlement to receive such
medical assistance.

(c) That under these programs, the state pays millions of dollars each year to
provide medical assistance for these persons for health conditions associated with
cigarette smoking.

(d) That it is the policy of the state that financial burdens imposed on the
state by cigarette smoking be borne by tobacco product manufacturers rather than
by the state to the extent that such manufacturers either determine to enter into a
settlement with the state or are found culpable by the courts.

(e) That on November 23, 1998, leading United States tobacco product
manufacturers entered into a settlement agreement, entitled the master
settlement agreement, with the state. The master settlement agreement obligates
these manufacturers, in return for a release of past, present and certain future
claims against them as described therein, to pay substantial sums to the state, tied
in part to their volume of sales; to fund a national foundation devoted to the
interests of public health; and to make substantial changes in their advertising and
marketing practices and corporate culture, with the intention of reducing underage
smoking.

(f) That it would be contrary to the policy of the state if tobacco product
manufacturers who determine not to enter into such a settlement could use a
resulting cost advantage to derive large, short-term profits in the years before
liability may arise without ensuring that the state will have an eventual source of
recovery from them if they are proven to have acted culpably. It is thus in the
interest of the state to require that such manufacturers establish a reserve fund to
guarantee a source of compensation and to prevent such manufacturers from
deriving large, short-term profits and then becoming judgment-proof before
liability may arise.

Legislative History

Source: L. 99: Entire part added, p. 944, � 1, effective July 1.