MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont will receive $28 million to settle a long-running dispute with tobacco companies and will spend half that money to combat opioid addiction.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday the state is still trying to determine what to do with the other half of the sudden windfall.
Tobacco companies agreed in 1998 to make yearly payments to Vermont and other states to settle claims that the companies had deceived the public about the risks of smoking. But the companies and the states have disagreed about the size of those payments every year since 2004.
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan says the settlement is a good outcome for the state because it will get a lump sum payment now instead of spending years fighting for the disputed funds.