Bill > LD1772

This bill establishes the Trust for a Healthy Maine, a new public entity designed to receive and strategically distribute tobacco settlement funds and other revenue to improve public health in the state. The trust will be governed by a 15-member board of trustees, including the Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and 14 appointed members with diverse expertise in public health, health equity, community resilience, and related fields. The board will develop annual funding disbursement plans that prioritize tobacco prevention and control programs, allocate funds to support health equity and eliminate structural inequities, and create internal stabilization and flexible accounts to manage funding. Key provisions include requiring at least 70% of recommended tobacco prevention funding in the first year, scaling to 100% in subsequent years, establishing a health equity and health improvement account that will disburse at least 15-20% of funds to address systemic racism and health disparities, and creating mechanisms for public input and legislative oversight. The bill also transfers existing tobacco settlement funds to the new trust and ensures ongoing funding from cigarette and tobacco product taxes while maintaining transparency through annual reporting and independent audits.

Health and Social Services

https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=1772&snum=132