Tobacco Money Division

Health care groups and Orange County officials continue to circle each other like wary prizefighters. It’s a disheartening sight, caused by disagreement on how to divide an enormous windfall of tens of millions of dollars a year for a quarter-century. Maybe.

The money comes from the settlement by tobacco companies with a host of states, counties and cities. Orange County did not join the lawsuit but nevertheless will receive an expected $30 million to $38 million a year for the next 25 years.

That’s money that should be spent on health concerns, starting with programs to get people to stop smoking or not to start. If they have been smokers, the money could be used to treat diseases stemming from tobacco.

Perhaps not every single penny every single year should be spent on health, but the bulk of the funds should be.

Contrast that with Orange County’s spending plan: Pay off debts, build a jail. The $7 million or $8 million to be spent on health care appears almost an afterthought.

That’s wrong.

County officials argue that there is no obligation to spend the money on health care. That’s true. But other counties have decided to use the funds for health. Los Angeles County is considering replacing one of the hospitals it operates. San Diego County is considering using most of the money for health care programs. Ventura County is planning on using this year’s allotment to patch unexpected and deep holes in its budget, but unlike Orange County, it has not decided to shortchange health care for decades to come.

Because of the county supervisors’ recalcitrance, Orange County now faces the threat of an initiative on the November ballot forcing it to spend most of the tobacco money on health plans. That sort of straitjacket usually is not good public policy, but using health care funds to build jails and reduce debt isn’t good policy either. It breaks faith with residents and heightens their cynicism about government.

There is also the possibility that the money flow could be jeopardized if the tobacco companies file bankruptcy should they lose pending lawsuits.

The county has started spending a different stream of tobacco money, the initial proceeds from Proposition 10, the 50-cents-per-pack tax approved by the voters in 1998.

A county commission set up to determine how to spend the money decided to provide more than $4 million to four programs that provide poor families with health services and day care and prevent child abuse.

Proposition 10 is expected to raise $49 million for Orange County this year. By law, the money must be spent on programs benefiting children up to age 5. That’s an important difference with the tobacco settlement money.

Last year’s Orange County Health Needs Assessment found that nearly 90,000 children were without health insurance. In many cases, the children and their families qualify for coverage but either don’t realize that or don’t know how to obtain insurance.

Both the county and the coalition of health care organizations fighting to spend the bulk or all of the tobacco settlement money on health programs agree on priorities, including expanding the operations of community clinics. They are a key resource for those without insurance.

The county and health groups should keep negotiating a possible compromise on the amount of money each would receive from the tobacco companies.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer rightly has warned that if an initiative is put on the ballot, both sides are gambling. The latest county wrinkle is the claim that the county can sell a bond backed by the settlement funds and use the bond money to retire debt and build a jail before the November vote. That in turn has led politicians on both sides of the aisle in Sacramento to warn the county to drop the bare-knuckles approach.

The legislators, led by state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), have told the supervisors that they shouldn’t short-circuit the possible initiative.

There is no doubt the county’s bankruptcy in 1994 imposed a huge financial burden. There has been hope, however, that a new jail will not be required, that expanding the James A. Musick Branch Jail would be sufficient. That would save the county a substantial sum.

Politicians leave a sour taste in the mouths of constituents when they take money meant for one purpose and use it for another. Orange County should play fair and see to it that the bulk of the tobacco settlement money goes for health programs.