Clashing views on how to spend tobacco cash

Kiley Russell

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 8:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada's attorney general and Gov. Kenny Guinn's chief legal aide remain at odds over the state's proposed use of its $48 million share of a national settlement with tobacco companies.

But Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Guinn's lawyer, Scott Scherer, insisted Monday they're eager to cooperate on how the money is spent - even though they remained far apart on the issue.

Guinn is making plans now for the funds, and those plans include scholarships. Del Papa said it is best to wait and keep the focus on eventual public health programs.

"It is premature and unwise to rely on the settlement proceeds for any purpose until all potential federal challenges have been resolved," Del Papa told the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee.

She added that before the settlement money is handed over, more than three-quarters of the states suing the tobacco industry must end their litigation. That should happen by July 2000.

And the federal government may try to claim some of Nevada's share of the settlement for itself, she warned.

Scherer said the governor remains committed to spending half of Nevada's share for university and community college scholarships. Guinnhas said money spent to educate Nevadans amounts to money spent on antismoking efforts.

"The governor's plan follows the attorney general's advice," Scherer said, adding that means "no less than 50 percent of funds earmarked for public health or related purposes."

"We think better-educated students are less likely to smoke and more likely to quit. We're certainly willing to work with (the Legislature) on this," Scherer said.

But Del Papa said the money should be used specifically for a comprehensive program to limit smoking because the state promised that it would.

"A commitment was made to the public health community and that commitment should be honored," she added.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, asked what the attorney general thought of Assembly Democrats' proposal to spend half of what Guinn proposed for scholarships.

"There is a lot of breadth and depth in the consent decree in terms of how the money can be spent, but the closer we can tie it to health-related programs we will be meeting that commitment to the public health community," Del Papa responded.