Smoking and tobacco-related illnesses have been a major public health issue, particularly in recent years as more lawsuits were brought by individuals and entities against the tobacco industry. The attorneys general of most States and the major United States tobacco companies agreed to settle more than 40 pending lawsuits brought by States against the tobacco industry. In exchange for dropping their lawsuits, and agreeing not to sue in the future, the States will receive billions of dollars in payments from the tobacco companies. Further, the companies will restrict their marketing activities and establish new efforts to curb tobacco consumption. The City, along with the other States and local government entities, joined in the settlement.
On June 27, 2000, the City Council adopted an ordinance establishing a special fund (Anti-Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Revenue Fund) for receipt and use of tobacco settlement funds. On September 5, 2000, the City Council approved an allocation plan, timeline, criteria, and funding priorities for the use of these funds, hereafter referred to as the Healthy Neighborhoods Venture Fund (H.N.V.F.) Program.
The first funding process, Cycle 1, was allocated in 2000-2001 ($6.7 million). Over $82 million has been allocated in the subsequent five cycles. Estimates provided by the State of California Attorney General’s Office (the tobacco settlement administrator) indicate that the ongoing allocation for the remaining years will likely be in the range of $9.0 to $10.0 million per year. Recent events, including the threat of legal challenges to the settlement provisions, make these estimates more questionable. Close monitoring will be needed to make sure that these revenue estimates do not exceed the actual revenue streamed received.
Funds available will be allocated in accordance with the allocation guideline adopted by the City Council. Approximately twenty-five percent (25%) of available funds will be allocated to projects that address needs in the Tobacco-Free Community/Health category, twenty-five percent (25%) will be allocated to projects that address needs in the Senior Services/Health category, and fifty percent (50%) to projects that address needs in the Education/Health category, depending on the number of applications received in each category and the ratings of the applications.
To be considered for funding, all proposed projects in the Education/Health and Senior Services/Health categories must include an anti-tobacco component. Acceptable anti-tobacco projects are those that have a significant impact on the target population. Anti-tobacco activities should be hands-on and should have a direct impact on participants.
The City is now entering Cycle 8. Funding priorities were given for HNVF Administration, Children’s Health Initiative, and Homework Centers. In June, the City Council adopted a budget for HNVF which allocated $6.54 million for Education / Health category, $1.74 million for Senior Services / Health category, and $0.30 million for Tobacco-Free Community / Health category. Also approved was $100,000 from the General Fund for an outside evaluation of H.N.V.F. The City Manager was directed to strengthen the evaluation of grant recipients for the H.N.V.F. grant process and work with the HNVF Advisory Committee to develop an outside assessment similar to the Bringing Everybody’s Strengths Together (BEST) model.
H.N.V.F. Contact Information |
City of San José
Department of Parks, Recreation and
Neighborhood Services
200 East Santa Clara Street, 9th Floor
San José, CA 95113
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Phone: (408) 793-5530
Fax: (408) 292-6318
Email: hnvf@sanjoseca.gov |
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