WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- Florida has reached a multi-billion-dollar
out-of-court settlement with the tobacco industry in its attempt to get
compensation for public costs caused by smoking-related illnesses. Gov. Lawton
Chiles announced the deal at a news conference Monday.
Chiles announced a settlement worth $11.3 billion to compensate for Medicaid
funds spent on sick smokers.
Unknown to the state's lawyers, negotiators for the industry and state,
including Chiles and Attorney General Bob Butterworth, hammered out the final
details late Sunday, April Herrle, the governor's spokeswoman, told The Palm
Beach Post newspaper.
State wanted $12.3 billion
Florida's settlement will
be larger than the one Mississippi got in July, Herrle told the Post.
Mississippi, the first state
to take the industry to court, settled its lawsuit for nearly $3.6 billion, a
deal equal to 1 percent of the proposed $368.5 billion national settlement with
40 states.
Florida has 5 percent of the
U.S. population, so an equivalent settlement would total $18.4 billion. The
state had asked for $12.3 billion -- $1.3 billion for tax money spent treating
sick smokers without insurance and $11 billion to punish the industry. Jury
selection in the case had been under way since August 1.
The state will receive one
payment "up front" with the rest to be paid out over 25 years, Herrle
said. The settlement does not need to be approved by state or federal lawmakers.
Billboard restrictions
Besides money, the
industry must also make public about 400 confidential documents still being
reviewed by judges in Florida's case, Herrle said. Most important to the
governor, the industry will agree to stiff restrictions on billboard
advertising.
Ron Motley, another of the
state's lead attorneys, said he was stunned by the announcement of the
settlement, negotiated by Chiles, Butterworth and one of Motley's law partners.
"I had no idea until tonight," Motley said. "They hid it from me."
Attorneys for the tobacco
industry could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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