A proposed constitutional amendment to dedicate tobacco settlement money to health care is putting the future of the Michigan Merit Award scholarship program in jeopardy.
The Citizens for a Healthy Michigan Coalition introduced the Healthy Michigan Amendment in March.
The proposed amendment would dedicate 90 percent of funds from the nationwide tobacco lawsuit settlement of 1998 to health care.
According to the state budget office, $328 million of the settlement money, or 31 percent, is set aside for the 2002 Merit Award scholarship program.
The Legislature appropriates the money to a variety of programs, but the members of the coalition contend more of it should go to health-related programs.
The coalition consists of the American Lung Association of Michigan, the American Cancer Society and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, among others.
“It’s only right that the tobacco money be spent providing care to those who didn’t heed the warnings, or couldn’t break the addiction and who now suffer from a disease,” said David Jahn, chairman of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Corporate Board.
Meanwhile, student leaders are denouncing the amendment, saying students will be denied a valuable resource for school.
Jared English, ASMSU’s Academic Assembly director of university, governmental and budgetary affairs, said the coalition is misleading the public about the amendment’s implications.
“Depending on who you talk to, there’s a $350-million to $500- million budget deficit,” he said. “There’s nowhere in the foreseeable future where this money could come from.”
ASMSU and other student leaders from across the state formed a coalition called People Protecting Kids and the Constitution to combat the initiative.
Area legislators feel either the scholarship program needs to be reworked or a new funding source created to accommodate the proposed amendment.
State Rep. Virg Bernero, D-Lansing, contends basing the scholarships on academic performance and need as opposed to MEAP scores would produce a better cross-section of students.
“I am suspicious of over-reliance on test scores,” he said. “I definitely feel we need to expand access to higher education, but my goal is not to provide money to people who don’t need it.”
Bernero said the Michigan Legislature needs to use the money to stand up to the tobacco companies.
“This citizen initiative has real potential to break the strangle-hold the tobacco industry has over this legislative process,” he said.
State Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said she wants to make sure former Attorney General Frank Kelly’s original intention when making the settlement stays intact.
“As a legislator, I hate to see our ability to appropriate state funds taken away,” she said. “But Frank Kelly didn’t sue Big Tobacco so money could be distributed to scholarships or budget holes could be patched up.”
