An Act Concerning the Use of Tobacco Settlement Funds for Children's Health Care
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1511, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2011, c. 617, §1, is further amended to read:
6. Health promotion purposes. Allocations are limited to the following prevention and health promotion purposes:
A. Smoking prevention, cessation and control activities, including, but not limited to, reducing smoking among the children of the State;
A-1. Prevention, education and treatment activities concerning unhealthy weight and obesity;
B. Prenatal and young children's care including home visits and support for parents of children from birth to 6 years of age;
C. Child care for children up to 15 years of age, including after-school care;
D. Health care for children and adults, maximizing to the extent possible federal matching funds;
E. Prescription drugs for adults who are elderly or disabled, maximizing to the extent possible federal matching funds;
F. Dental and oral health care to low-income persons who lack adequate dental coverage;
G. Substance abuse prevention and treatment; and
H. Comprehensive school health and nutrition programs, including school-based health centers.
Funding allocated pursuant to paragraphs A, A-1, B, C, D, F, G and H may not be decreased in subsequent unified current services budget legislation or deallocated in supplemental budget legislation in order to reduce a budget deficit.
summary
This bill amends the law on the Fund for a Healthy Maine to require that funding for children's health care not be reduced in order to address a budget deficit.