2013 Public Policy Priorities Coming Soon!

The American Lung Association believes that protection of lung health and a sound energy policy are compatible goals that require an emphasis on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the use of cleaner energy resources. Certain energy practices place a healthy toll on human health and the environment impacting the lives of Americans, including the most vulnerable to harm. To that end, the Lung Association submitted these comments to the Department of Public Service about the state’s comprehensive energy plan in October. We also submitted these comments to the Biomass Energy Working Group about its final draft report.

Read the American Lung Association’s Energy Position Statement and the potential impacts on lung health.

2012 Legislative Wrap Up

Tobacco Control Program Funding – Despite the difficult budget climate and the level funding proposed by the Governor, the Lung Association and partners in the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont gained additional funding for Vermont’s Tobacco Control Program and have funds deposited into the state’s Tobacco Trust Fund for the first time in many years.

Though we proposed an additional $1 million in funding for the Tobacco Control Program (targeted for the Health Department’s portion of the program that includes public education, cessation and prevention), we were able to secure an additional $500,000 thanks in large part to champions on the House Appropriations Committee, bringing the total Tobacco Control Program allocation up to $3.8 million. 

Approximately $3 million will also be appropriated to the dwindling Tobacco Trust Fund bringing its balance up to just over $4 million.  This is great news given the fact that we thought the fund would be depleted at the beginning of the session.

In addition, the legislature included our proposed language in the budget bill that would require the Vermont Department of Health, the Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board and the Blueprint for Health to come up with a plan for the sustainability of the Tobacco Control Program for FY14-16, and present this to the legislature next January.

Preventing Youth Access to Tobacco – The Coalition worked hard for passage of H.747, omnibus tobacco prevention legislation that addresses one of our main priorities this session – increasing the price of little cigars to prevent them from being an inexpensive tobacco substitute to youth. The legislation addressed the following:

• Cigarillos/little cigars – These light-weight products that look identical to cigarettes other than that they are wrapped in tobacco leaf as opposed to paper were being taxed at a much lower rate making them a cheap alternative to cigarettes for minors, around $2.19 a pack compared to a pack of cigarettes costing around $7.50-$8.00.  The tax policy has now been changed to include a higher weight in the definition of these products so that these little cigars/cigarillos will be taxed at a rate much more comparable to other products and will no longer provide a financial incentive for youth to switch to the cheaper product. (Language addressing the price disparity of little cigars was also included in the Miscellaneous Tax Bill since it involved a tax issue.)
• Electronic cigarettes – The sale of these products will now be banned to minors, the same as other tobacco products.
• Roll Your Own machines – These large commercial machines are starting to appear in stores in other states and can roll hundreds of cigarettes in minutes.  Since they roll pipe tobacco which is taxed less than cigarettes, the machines are another way to get a cheap tobacco product on the market that youths might be interested in. However, H.747 banned these machines in Vermont.

Renewable Energy Bill -  The Lung Association advocates to ensure that the health of all Vermonters is considered in energy policy planning, in particular use of biomass for electricity generation (click here to read the VTDigger Op Ed and click here for Theodore Marcy’s, MD, MPH, testimony before the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee). S.214, as passed by the Legislature, requires the State to develop a greenhouse gas accounting protocol to account for lifecycle emissions from various energy sources. However, it does not include a review of health-damaging emissions, especially fine particulate matter (PM2.5). As the State implements the recommendations in the comprehensive energy plan and the Legislature returns next year, the ALA will continue to promote health in all policy. 

• May 23, 2012 -- Biomass Article, Eagle Times, "Doctor: Biomass Poses Health Risks."

For questions about current legislation, contact Rebecca Ryan, Director, Health Promotion and Public Policy for the American Lung Association in Vermont.