The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee last week sent a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), raising serious questions about the possible misuse of federal stimulus taxpayer dollars to lobby for higher sugar taxes, increased tobacco taxes, restrictions on restaurant zoning, setting restaurant standards, and changing relative prices of health and unhealthy food items. Under federal law, it is illegal to use funds appropriated by Congress to influence in any manner a member of Congress or an official of any government regarding any legislation, law, or policy.
The federal funds in question are a part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) grant program known as the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant program and the Community Transformation Grants program. These two grant programs were undertaken as a part of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (the federal stimulus plan passed by Congress) and were designed to assist local governments adopt policies and laws to reduce obesity and place restrictions on tobacco products.
This investigation is important because approximately $245 million of the federal stimulus funds were disbursed in the form of grants by the CDC to local units of government in 2010 and 2011 to adopt local and/or state tobacco-related restrictions including smoking bans, anti-tobacco counter advertisements, zoning restrictions limiting the number of retail tobacco licensees and other tobacco sales restrictions. Additional funding for this CDC tobacco grant program of an estimated $700 million or more for fiscal years 2012 through 2015 was approved as a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.
In the letter sent to Sebelius, House Energy and Commerce Committee members state that Congressional hearings on the potential misuse of federal funds have brought to light “serious legal and compliance issues ultimately raised about the CPPW program…[and] the integrity and effectiveness of spending in the program. …. However, the apparent lack of attention by HHS officials to grant management may have had the effect of diverting billions in Federal funds from initiatives that actually improve public health.” As a result, and as stated in the letter, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has requested that the Health and Human Services Department produce copies of all grant documents and compile a detailed plan of corrective measures in response to the actions that may violate the prohibition against the use of federal funds to lobby elected officials.
This investigation has significance for the tobacco industry because the CPPW grants have funded and will fund efforts to adopt local tobacco-related restrictions. NATO has been opposing an increasing number of local tobacco restrictions. some of which were proposed using these federal stimulus funds cited in the letter to Sebelius. A prime example is a $10 million federal CPPW grant to support, in part, the passage of an ordinance in Philadelphia requiring graphic health warning posters to be placed near every cash register in stores that sell cigarettes and tobacco products. After NATO submitted legal comments opposing the Philadelphia ordinance and NATO representatives testified before the Philadelphia Board of Health in opposition to the ordinance, the proposal was tabled last year and has not been acted upon since.
Because the House Energy and Commerce Committee has oversight and investigatory powers relating to the Health and Human Services Department, NATO will continue to monitor and report on the outcome of this investigation and any corrective actions that the HHS is required to take as a result of this congressional inquiry. A copy of the letter issued by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee accompanies this article.
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