State Gets Another Tobacco Payment

Idaho has received more than $12.9 million, the third payment from the state’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

The payment will be added to the $16.7 million sent in December, bringing the total to $29.7 million, state Attorney General Al Lance said. The fourth and fifth payments are expected by early next year.

The settlement does not specify how the states must spend the money. The payments have been deposited in the Millennium Trust Fund, created by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and the Legislature to preserve the principle while expending the interest in appropriate areas.