Tobacco-related ballot measures have millions in backing so far

Publication Date: 2006-09-02

• Author:Associated Press
• Publication:Arizona Republic

Two tobacco-related measures on the Nov. 7 ballot have nearly $3 million in backing apiece so far.

Proposition 206 proposes a statewide workplace smoking ban with the exception of bars. It has raised $2.99 million through Aug. 23, with all but $24,000 coming from tobacco company R.J. Reynolds.

Proposition 203 would pay for early-childhood programs through a tax of 80 cents per pack of cigarettes. It has raised $2.8 million since it began collecting donations in 2004, with a host of business leaders writing five- and six-digit checks to support it...

Backers of Proposition 206, also called the Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Committee Act, have spent almost all of the money raised, with the funds going toward an early media campaign as well as the signature drive launched in May to qualify for the ballot.

Backers of Proposition 201, also known as the Smoke-Free Arizona Act, have raised nearly $853,000 to date, with major contributions from health-based groups such as the American Cancer Society, the Washington D.C.-based Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and the American Lung Association of Arizona.