Connecticut’s Public Health Committee approved legislation to put $32 million into the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund for smoking cessation, a $20 million increase over the proposed budget from Gov. Ned Lamont. In 2023, the state invested $12 million into the program but it was suspended in 2024.
The money to fund this program comes from the Tobacco Master Settlement agreement. Chris Collibee, budget spokesman for the Lamont administration, said the state will receive $109.6 million from the settlement in 2025, and $108.1 million in 2026. He also said each year $200,000 of the settlement money goes to the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Revenue Services to cover the costs of tobacco enforcement, with the rest going to the General Fund.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health found that in 2023, 12.7% of high school students used a form of tobacco, down from 18.8% in 2022.
