Tobacco Settlements: States' Use of Settlement Proceeds

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how three states are using the proceeds of tobacco settlement agreements, focusing on: (1) whether any of the settlements specify how the proceeds are to be spent, including expenditures for health-related activities such as tobacco prevention or control efforts; (2) whether funds need to be spent within certain timeframes; (3) who is involved in deciding how the funds should be spent; (4) what programs and activities that states plan to spend the proceeds on; and (5) what tobacco prevention or control efforts are under way or planned in selected states.