(Des Moines, IA) -- Iowa has received a $53 million payment from a tobacco settlement. In the two decades since the settlement, Iowa has received more than one billion dollars in payments. The state will continue to get annual payments in perpetuity, based on the number of cigarettes sold in the United States. The Iowa Attorney General's Office says 22-percent of the payment goes to the state. The rest is used to pay bondholders who bought bonds issued by the Tobacco Settlement.
The Master Settlement Agreement is the largest settlement in U.S. history.
“This settlement is nearly a quarter-century old, but our office must diligently monitor and enforce the agreement's provisions every year so Iowa gets its fair share of the settlement,” Attorney General Tom Miller said.
State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald announced Wednesday that Iowa refunded its tobacco settlement bonds this month, resulting in more than $167 million savings for the state over the life of the bonds.
In 1998, Miller and attorneys general of 45 states signed the MSA with the nation’s four largest tobacco companies to settle lawsuits to recover billions of dollars in state health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.