JACKSON - Attorney General Mike Moore says he'll guard Mississippi's tobacco trust fund even after he leaves office in January.
"I will continuously, jealously guard that money. The people of the state continue to afford me a pretty large bully pulpit," said Moore, who didn't seek re-election after 16 years in office.
"I think people will continue to listen to what Mike Moore says about that money. One legislator recently said to me, 'Mike you went out and got the money. Of course, we're going to listen to what you have to say."'
Moore, a Gulf Coast native who has been one of the more popular figures in state government, has said he was leaving the office to spend more time with his family.
Moore, an attorney, said he had not made a final decision on his next job.
Moore in 1994 became the first state attorney general in the nation to sue tobacco companies to recover public costs of treating sick smokers. Mississippi settled its case in 1997 and is to receive about $4 billion over 25 years, with payments continuing as long as tobacco companies exist.
Part of the settlement included payment of $61.8 million from tobacco companies for anti-smoking programs. All other settlement payments went to the state, and legislators in 1999 established a health care trust fund for the tobacco settlement money. The state has received $1.1 billion so far, and of that, nearly $400 million has been spent, Moore said this week.
Some of the money has gone to augment Medicaid's budget and to implement the Children's Health Insurance Program, which drew at least three times the amount in matching federal funds.
Moore said he fears the trust fund will become too attractive to lawmakers in a tight budget year.
"Look at what happened to Tennessee. They spent it all in one year," Moore said. "Wisconsin sold their entire settlement for 40 cents on the buck and put it on a one year deficit. We just don't want that to happen."
Tennessee expects about $179 million in settlement payments this year and has collected $715 million since 1999. All has gone to the general operating budget.
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum sold off that state's $6 billion share of the tobacco settlement to plug a $1.1 billion budget hole in 2001.
Moore said he's received assurances from legislative leaders that Mississippi's trust fund won't face a similar fate.
"I think the health care trust fund ought to be used exclusively for health care. Of course, that covers a broad, broad range of possibilities," said state Rep. Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, who is expected to be elected House speaker after the Legislature convenes Jan. 6.
Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, a member of the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee, said he'd be "hard-pressed" to vote in favor of using tobacco funds for anything other than health care. However, he said other lawmakers may see it as a better option than raising taxes. "I hope it doesn't come down to that," Dearing said.
Jim Hood, who was elected attorney general in November, said he would fight any attempts to raid the trust fund.
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