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Faith leaders support anti-tobacco agency’s independence

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As faith leaders, we are extremely disappointed by what the Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee proposes to do to the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency of state government.

First, the committee is recommending a $5 million budget for ITPC. That’s a cut of more than $4 million from the governor’s proposed budget for ITPC and half of what ITPC receives now. Second, the proposal folds ITPC into the State Department of Health, ending its status as an independent agency.

All these actions were done with no public hearing. Why Indiana’s highly successful, 10-year-old tobacco prevention and cessation agency has been targeted is a mystery.

This action is unacceptable to those of us in the faith communities who work with and support the efforts of ITPC statewide to reduce the use of tobacco in Indiana as a public health issue. For more than five years we have tried unsuccessfully to pass a comprehensive smoke free workplace law in Indiana to prevent more deaths from tobacco companies who are unrelenting in their desire to make millions of dollars at the cost of more than 10,000 Hoosier lives per year and more than $2 billion in health care expenses related to tobacco.

Yet this year the Senate Public Policy Committee refused to hear any amendments to strengthen the bill, and rightfully voted down a watered-down version as a result. And now we see an 11th hour attempt to defund and incapacitate one of the few agencies in the state that has made a documented difference in improving public health and reducing health care costs for Indiana.

The Senate’s proposal is not about balancing the budget, since the funds for ITPC are not tax dollars, they are from the early 1990’s tobacco settlement fund from which Indiana receives $125 million per year.

The Senate proposal not only leaves Indiana’s tobacco prevention efforts severely underfunded, but it also sets back tobacco prevention and cessation efforts indefinitely by abolishing ITPC’s independent, volunteer, expert executive board.

Instead of an independent board charting the course of this very successful program, committee members propose a bureaucratic solution, which could cause the tobacco prevention program to fail. Such a failure would mean a rollback in Indiana’s progress on tobacco prevention during the past 10 years, causing a negative impact on the health of Hoosiers. This move is about shutting down efforts to effectively battle against the scourge of tobacco in Indiana.

Such a move is unacceptable.

We call on the members of the General Assembly to reverse this committee’s proposal and revert back to Gov. Daniels’ budget: a $9.23 million budget for an independent, research-based ITPC. The ITPC has worked successfully with faith and health volunteers, like us, and other community leaders and members across the state in order to combat the use of tobacco in Indiana. Their important work must continue.

This commentary was submitted by the following faith leaders:

Bishop Michael Coyner, Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church

Matthew Ellis, director, Episcopal Health Ministries

Rev. John Gantt, interim conference minister, Indiana Kentucky Conference of the United Church of Christ

Ann Hanson, president, Church Women United of Indiana

Sherry McIntyre, RN, health ministry & parish nurse coordinator, Community Health Network

Rev. Richard Spleth, regional minister, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indiana

Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Gangler, co-convener, Hoosier Faith and Health Coalition

 

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