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Money For Moffitt Cancer Center Lost In New Tax Bill

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 31, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - A Senate committee unanimously approved a proposed tobacco tax hike today – but only after stripping out a $50-million earmark for Tampa's H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.

Initially the proposal, filed by Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, had dedicated $50 million of cigarette tax proceeds to the center. The center is now completely "built out" and needs bondable revenue for expansion.

Lawmakers allowed two-thirds of Moffitt's funding for construction to expire last year, leaving the cancer center with only $5 million that is already bonded for construction.

"Moffitt has a four-phase, $371-million building project," said Jamie Wilson. "That new campus will create 3,000 construction jobs; it creates 1,200 permanent, full-time, high-level research jobs at Moffitt.''

Asked about scrubbing the cancer center from the bill, Senate Finance and Tax Committee Chairman Thad Altman stressed that the current bill dedicates money to health care, and will draw down federal matching dollars. The bill raises the tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, and on other tobacco products by $1 per ounce.

"The money is there to maximize the public health impact," said Altman, R-Melbourne. "I think our appropriators will look at the best use of these dollars. I'm hoping that programs like [Moffitt] will be funded."

There are several other bills that would restore lost funding for Moffitt, but none have received a hearing. Moffitt's leaders were disappointed to lose their earmark in the Senate cigarette tax plan, Wilson said, but the session is only half over.

"We're still hopeful that, somehow, Moffitt can get a bondable source of income," he said. "If you're going to raise a tax on tobacco products that directly result in occurrences of cancer, to not have a portion of that devoted to cancer research, to cancer treatment … would be a real shame."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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