Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 1802
       
       
       
       By Senator Gardiner
       
       
       
       
       9-00720A-10                                           20101802__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to cigarette surcharge revenue uses;
    3         amending s. 210.011, F.S.; reducing the amount of
    4         cigarette surcharge revenues deposited into the Health
    5         Care Trust Fund; appropriating a portion of cigarette
    6         surcharge revenues to the Department of Children and
    7         Family Services for certain purposes; prohibiting the
    8         use of such portion to supplant certain general
    9         revenue funds allocated to the department; providing
   10         an effective date.
   11  
   12         WHEREAS, compared to the general population, individuals
   13  with mental illness have higher rates of chronic health problems
   14  and premature death due to long-term tobacco use, and
   15         WHEREAS, the life span of an individual with mental illness
   16  is, on average, 20 to 25 years shorter than that of the average
   17  American, and most of these individuals die from smoking-related
   18  diseases, and
   19         WHEREAS, it is estimated that 200,000 of the 435,000 annual
   20  deaths from smoking in the United States occur among individuals
   21  with chronic mental illness and substance use disorders, and
   22         WHEREAS, compared to the general population, the rate of
   23  cardiovascular disease is 2.3 times higher, the rate of
   24  respiratory disease is 3.2 times higher, and the rate of lung
   25  cancer is 3 times higher among individuals with mental illness,
   26  and
   27         WHEREAS, tobacco use by individuals with mental illness is
   28  a major public health issue that needs immediate attention
   29  through focused cessation programs, and
   30         WHEREAS, 75 percent of individuals with mental illness
   31  smoke 3 to 4 times the rate of the general population, consuming
   32  44 percent of all cigarettes consumed in the United States, and
   33         WHEREAS, Florida’s public mental health system is severely
   34  underfunded and currently ranks 49th in per capita spending on
   35  mental health care, NOW, THEREFORE,
   36  
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 210.011, Florida
   40  Statutes, is amended, and subsection (10) is added to that
   41  section, to read:
   42         210.011 Cigarette surcharge levied; collection.—
   43         (9) Ninety-five percent of the revenue produced from the
   44  surcharge levied under this section shall be deposited into the
   45  Health Care Trust Fund within the Agency for Health Care
   46  Administration.
   47         (10) Five percent of the revenue produced from the
   48  surcharge levied under this section shall be appropriated to the
   49  Department of Children and Family Services for the purpose of
   50  expanding community-based mental health services and providing
   51  programs to reduce the rate of smoking among persons with mental
   52  illness. These funds shall not be used to supplant general
   53  revenue funds allocated to the Department of Children and Family
   54  Services as of July 1, 2009.
   55         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.