Budgets

In 1998 the states received $246 billion dollars from the tobacco settlement. This money was to be used for healthcare cost and to fund tobacco prevention programs. As it turned out many states used much of the money for other programs to help balance the budget and some states even traded the long-term payment plan for upfront money and in the process gave up the long-term periodic payments. In 2021 states received $21 billion in opioid payments and this money is also being misused to cover general budget items. This is coming after billions of covid relief money used for social programs is running out and will now be supplemented by opioid money. It is not just the federal budgeting program that has run amok but the states are following the same path.