Governor Dayton stands up for health, asks lawmakers to undo tobacco tax cuts

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is engaged in a showdown with legislative leaders over breaks for tobacco companies and other provisions included in the tax bill sent to him last month. The cuts repeal an annual increase of state tobacco taxes to adjust for inflation, and reduce the price and weaken the definition of “premium” cigars.

After a special session at the end of May, Gov. Dayton signed the tax bill, but vetoed funding for the Legislature for the next two years. The Governor said the veto should motivate lawmakers to return for another special session and undo the tobacco tax cuts. In a statement, he noted the relationship between high tobacco taxes and low smoking rates, called the tax cuts “egregious” and said he was appalled legislative leaders had made them a priority this year. Lawmakers have sued the Governor in response.

Taken together, the tax cuts partially roll back the strong tobacco tax package passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2013, and on Friday, June 9, Gov. Dayton appeared with dozens of youth from Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation to speak on the importance of keeping our tobacco prices high. Sharing a new report on the 2013 tax’s impacts from the Minnesota Department of Health, the Governor said, “Making cigarettes less easily accessible to children and adults means fewer Minnesotans start smoking, and more are likely to quit.”

He was joined by the state Health Commissioner, Dr. Edward Ehlinger, and by ClearWay Minnesota’s Molly Moilanen, a co-chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, as well as by youth advocates and a volunteer from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. All of them spoke on the benefits Minnesota has seen from the 2013 tobacco tax, including reductions in smoking by adults and youth and increases in quitting because of high tobacco prices.

We are grateful to Gov. Dayton for making this issue a priority. By doing so, he is helping to create a healthier future for our whole state, and preventing Big Tobacco from hurting the kids of Minnesota. We join the Governor in calling on leaders of both parties to come back and remove the tax breaks, which benefit an industry that creates death and disease, and drives up costs for everyone.

ClearWay Minnesota is seeking candidates for our Board of Directors. The ClearWay Minnesota Board oversees operations of an independent nonprofit organization that works to eliminate the harm tobacco causes the people of Minnesota. ClearWay Minnesota’s work encompasses cessation services, public policy activities, research, media campaigns and community outreach.

ClearWay Minnesota is committed to expanding racial/ethnic and geographic diversity among our Board of Directors. Applicants from Minnesota’s diverse communities and/or from outstate regions are particularly welcome. The Board is also currently seeking candidates with previous board experience and significant leadership experience. Board terms are three years. Board Members serve without compensation.

Please submit applications and resume to Board Relations Manager Amy Henderson at ClearWay Minnesota (8011 34th Avenue South, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55425 or here) by August 11, 2017.

Qualified candidates must have:

• No conflict of interest with ClearWay Minnesota vendors, grantees or contractors (see vendor/grantee/contractor list)
• No affiliation with the tobacco industry or related trade associations within the last 10 years

Online Application Form (SurveyMonkey)

Board position description

Print Application Form (PDF)

Vendor/Grantee/Contractor List

 

ClearWay Minnesota^SM praised the Edina City Council tonight for passing an ordinance that would prevent youth smoking by raising the tobacco age to 21. Edina is the first city in the state to enact such a measure.

“Thank you, Edina City Council, for taking this historic step to keep young people from smoking,” said Molly Moilanen, our Director of Public Affairs, after the vote. “Almost 95 percent of adult addicted smokers start before age 21. This policy makes it harder for young people to access tobacco products before that age – and if young people make it to 21 without smoking, chances are they will never start.”

According to Dr. Caleb Schultz, a physician who has spearheaded the policy effort in Edina, “Tobacco 21 is the right step for Edina to take, because we care about our kids. We will be the first, but hopefully not the last. Edina can set an example for other communities to follow.”

Nia Kilstofte, of the Edina High School Sober Squad, supported the measure as well. “Raising the minimum sales age will remove tobacco from the high-school environment. By working together, we can protect generations to come from these dangerous and deadly products.”

A national consensus is growing to prevent addictions and future health problems by raising the sale age of tobacco products to 21. California and Hawaii and more than 220 cities and counties throughout the United States have raised the tobacco age.

• Research shows that increasing the tobacco age in Minnesota would prevent 30,000 kids from becoming smokers over the next 15 years.
• The tobacco industry heavily targets 18-to-21-year-olds with candy flavoring, magazine advertisements and event sponsorships.
• 75 percent of adult Americans favor increasing the minimum purchase age for tobacco to 21.

Edina’s unanimous vote will likely inspire more local Tobacco 21 proposals and possible state policy action in the future.

Yesterday, our Director of Community Development Jaime Martínez was honored by the Minnesota Public Health Association (MPHA) at its annual meeting in Minneapolis. Jaime received the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Public Health Achievement Award.

The Wellstone Award is given by the MPHA to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to public health in Minnesota, and who has demonstrated leadership and innovation in public health work.

“Jaime has shown tremendous commitment to reducing health disparities among the most negatively impacted populations in Minnesota, and we are delighted to see him recognized in this way,” said David J. Willoughby, ClearWay Minnesota’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are so proud of his work, which has made Minnesota a national leader in addressing commercial tobacco use among communities with some of the highest cigarette-smoking rates.”

Jaime Martínez has been a staff member at ClearWay Minnesota since 2000. As Director of Community Development, he oversees work to address smoking among Minnesota’s diverse communities, who often smoke at higher rates and have greater disease burdens than the general population in Minnesota. Highlights of Jaime’s tenure at the organization have included the Leadership and Advocacy Institute to Advance Minnesota’s Parity for Priority Populations (LAAMPP), a program building health leadership among communities of color, American Indians and LGBTQ communities; unique partnerships with American Indian communities to restore traditional tobacco practices; and passage in 2007 of the Freedom to Breathe Act, a law that protects Minnesotans from secondhand smoke in public places.

“Over the past 17 years,” said Jaime, “I have seen incremental changes in addressing health disparities in Minnesota, and movement towards true health equity for all communities. I am proud to have played a role in helping these changes become possible.”

He added, “I am humbled by this honor, but we are all doing this work together, and the work must continue.”