Proposal for antismoking spending extinguished

Commission rejects amendment to limit requirements.

TALLAHASSEE — A smoldering controversy over Florida’s landmark tobacco settlement and how money should be spent has been snuffed out.

Rep. Jeanette Nunez, a member of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, said Thursday she will no longer push a proposed constitutional amendment that would have eliminated a requirement that the state set aside 30 percent of overall tobacco-education and -prevention funding for an edgy advertising and marketing campaign.

“I don’t ever want to call myself ‘fat,’ but I’m singing. I’m done,” Nunez, R-Miami, said.

Nunez’s remarks come after the commission, which has the power to place potential constitutional amendments on the November ballot, did not approve the proposal while meeting this week in Tallahassee.

Anti-smoking groups that have lobbied fiercely against the proposal, though, aren’t letting their guard down. “We don’t want to assume anything with regard to the process they are following,” Protect Tobacco Free Florida spokeswoman Heather Youmans said in a statement.

The Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years, has unique authority to place proposed constitutional amendments directly on the ballot. The commission this week voted to move forward with 25 proposed amendments and send them to its Style and Drafting Committee.

Proposals emerging from the committee then will go back to the full Constitution Revision Commission for final votes. They need support from 22 of the 37 members to go on the November ballot.