The suit against Gov. Bush says budget cuts will decimate the youth anti-smoking program.
By ADRIENNE LU
Published June 6, 2003
TAMPA - A lawyer from the "dream team" that helped win Florida's $11-billion settlement with the tobacco industry teamed up with an 18-year-old anti-smoking advocate Thursday to sue Gov. Jeb Bush.
Tampa attorney Steven Yerrid and Joseph Scarfone, a recent graduate of Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, say the Legislature's decision last week to allocate only $1-million to the state program to prevent youths from smoking is a breach of the landmark 1997 tobacco settlement. The program got $39-million in the current fiscal year.
The lawsuit asks the courts to compel the governor to direct the Legislature to discuss tobacco prevention in the special session scheduled to begin June 16 and to restore funding to the program.
The plaintiffs allege the budget cuts will essentially gut the anti-tobacco program, cost 100 people their jobs and end the provocative media campaigns that were the most visible aspect of the program.
The suit, filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court, calls the cuts "a shortsighted, immoral and economically foolish endeavor." It asks the court to declare the appropriations bill unconstitutional and makes note of the $948-million the federal government has said it will give to the state for tax relief.
The suit says that under the settlement "Gov. Bush and the state of Florida are contractually bound to use a part of the ongoing tobacco revenue stream to fund anti-tobacco programs" aimed at youth smoking.
"We have to keep our word not only under the agreement, but also to the future generations of Florida," Yerrid said Thursday. "To allow this program to lapse would cost untold lives and huge sums of money down the line ... We've offered an opportunity to bring this issue into critical focus so we can come up with a solution that will allow everyone to win."
Scarfone, who has been an active member of Students Working Against Tobacco, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Jill Bratina, Bush's communications director, said Thursday afternoon she hadn't yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it.
"The governor asked for $39-million for the program when he submitted his budget, but it's a tough budget year, the Legislature had to make decisions," Bratina said. She said Bush has been exploring ways to keep the program going because of its success.
"The governor feels the issue is too important to walk away from," she added. "We are looking for options. This is a program that works. We have to make the most of the tools we have now and look at the options available to us so we continue this important program."
Dexter Douglass, who was general counsel to Gov. Lawton Chiles during the litigation, said he was glad the suit was filed because he thinks the drastic cuts violate the spirit of the tobacco settlement.
"I think it was a breach of faith if not a breach of contract. It was sickening to think the people who fought this are now totally misusing the funds that we obtained after such a hard fight," Douglass said.
Legally, Douglass thinks the lawsuit is viable.
"The issue would be whether or not you can sue the governor of the state to carry out the court's order and that would have to be ruled on by the courts. But I certainly support the effort," Douglass said.
Anti-smoking advocates said they hope the case will lead to more money for the anti-tobacco program.
Brenda Olsen, assistant executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Lung Association, had not seen the suit, but said the association, "certainly supports all efforts to restore the funding to the tobacco control program" including using some of the money coming from the federal government.
"And he may need to urge the Legislature to look at other areas of the budget to find funding for the program," she said.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Ken Pruitt said he will encourage the president and the governor to earmark for the anti-tobacco program some of the nearly $1-billion the state will receive over the next two years as part of the federal tax cut package.
"There is a window of opportunity for us to do it," said Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. "We would have loved to fund it and didn't know where to get the money from. We had already decimated education."
- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.
