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Indiana Takes Important Step to Improve Hoosier Health |
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From PR Newswire: Health / Biotech: Indiana legislators have taken an important step toward improving the health of Hoosiers by passing HB 1678 and the state budget late yesterday evening. HB 1678 will increase the state cigarette tax by 44 cents per pack, which is a proven strategy to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, and will improve access to vital healthcare services for many uninsured Hoosiers. Between HB 1678 and the state budget, annual funding for Indiana's nationally recognized tobacco prevention program was also increased by $5.4 million dollars. We applaud Governor Mitch Daniels for his bold vision and active leadership in proposing the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), including a cigarette tax increase and full funding for the tobacco prevention programs run by the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC). While a step forward, the total tobacco prevention funding approved by the Indiana Legislature, $16.2 million per year, is still less than half the minimum amount of $34.8 million a year recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We urge Indiana leaders next year to build on this progress by further increasing the cigarette tax and fully restoring funding for tobacco prevention. It is disappointing that the tobacco industry once again wielded far too much influence and succeeded in limiting the size of the cigarette tax increase and dramatically cutting the amount of new revenue dedicated to tobacco prevention. We also encourage legislators to continue this year's progress toward making all Indiana workplaces, including restaurants and bars, smoke-free. A push for smoke-free legislation emerged from legislators at the very end of this legislative session.
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