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VietnameseGriffin: ‘With this year’s disbursement, Arkansas has now received a total of more than $1.4 billion’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing Arkansas’s annual disbursement of tobacco settlement funds:
“The State of Arkansas has received $47,044,772.69 as its annual proceeds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The annual disbursement of settlement funds, which is received by the State Treasurer’s office, supports key programs in Arkansas that improve health outcomes. With this year’s disbursement, Arkansas has now received a total of more than $1.4 billion. My office enforces the MSA and various tobacco statutes enacted pursuant to the MSA.”
Background
In 2000, Arkansas voters created the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, which governs how the MSA funds are used. Tobacco settlement moneys are received by the State Treasurer’s office and are used to fund numerous health-related programs in Arkansas, including the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, an agricultural and medical research consortium; the Medicaid Expansion Program, which provides Medicaid coverage for underserved populations; the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program, which aims to reduce tobacco use; and the Targeted State Needs Program, which includes support for public health programs for minorities, older Arkansans, and residents of rural areas and the Delta.
In addition to enforcing the terms of the MSA, Arkansas law also requires the Office of Attorney General to operate a certification process for tobacco manufacturers; manage ongoing quarterly and annual reporting; maintain an Approved-For-Sale Directory for cigarettes; and conduct audits, investigations, or litigation if violations of the tobacco statutes occur.
To download a PDF of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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