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Florida Senator Wants All Tobacco Companies To Face The Same Penalties

A Florida lawmaker wants all tobacco companies to pay the same regardless of whether they were part of a 1997 legal settlement or not. Senator Thad Altman from Melbourne says the bill would right a mistake in not including all tobacco companies in the suit requiring the companies involved to pay a fee per cigarette sold.

“These companies have an unfair market and they have grown to 20 percent of the cigarette market here in the state of Florida. And it also a lot of revenue that goes into the Lawton Endowment Fund that deals with smoking has dropped dramatically.” The Senator said.

State revenue estimates from the stamps are as much as 200 million dollars. Senator Altman says it’s not certain where the money will go just yet, but some ideas include education and healthcare.

For more news updates follow Thomas Andrew Gustafson on twitter @tandrewgus