“STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR
February 16, 2006
Governor Barbour’s “Healthy Kids” Initiative
Protect Mississippi’s Kids from Tobacco and Drugs
The health of Mississippi’s kids is at risk from many factors, whether it is cigarette smoking or exposure to illegal drugs. Mississippi needs and deserves a constitutional and comprehensive plan to prevent our kids from getting hooked on tobacco just as Mississippi needs to beef up our efforts to stop our kids from getting hooked on drugs. We can do both with the $20 million which has been unconstitutionally diverted to the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi annually since December 22, 2000.
As I’ve said in the past, the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi has done some good work, but Mississippi’s taxpayers have not gotten their money’s worth for the $100 million the Partnership has spent, an annual amount twice as much as Mississippi spends fighting the scourge of illegal drugs.
There has never been an accounting of how the Partnership has spent this $100 million given to the Legislature, the Governor, the Health Care Trust Fund Board, or the taxpayers. While it is claimed that the Partnership is audited, no certified audit of the Partnership’s use of the state’s money has ever been provided.
Even without the benefit of a comprehensive, independent audit of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, there is no denying there has been waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars by the organization. For example, the Partnership spent $20,000 on a newspaper ad that ran in newspapers across the state that had nothing to do with keeping youth from smoking. Instead, it was an ad praising former Attorney General Mike Moore for winning an award. In addition, the Partnership has awarded monetary grants which are tinged with politics such as the $2.9 million given by the Partnership to the Legislative Black Caucus’ foundation. These actions question whether the Partnership’s priorities are more focused on politics than on stopping kids from smoking.”
Magnolia Tribune
