PRINTER'S NO. 1675
No. 1149 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY RAFFERTY, BRIGHTBILL, PIPPY, TARTAGLIONE, LEMMOND,
COSTA, BOSCOLA, ERICKSON, PILEGGI, SCHWARTZ, TOMLINSON,
THOMPSON, MOWERY, O'PAKE, CORMAN AND PICCOLA, JUNE 9, 2004
REFERRED TO FINANCE, JUNE 9, 2004
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 22, 2000 (P.L.394, No.54), entitled "An
2 act requiring certain tobacco product manufacturers to place
3 certain moneys into an escrow fund; conferring powers and
4 duties upon the Attorney General and the Department of
5 Revenue; and imposing penalties," further providing for
6 requirements.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 4(b) of the act of June 22, 2000
10 (P.L.394, No.54), known as the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Act,
11 is amended to read:
12 Section 4. Requirements.
13 * * *
14 (b) Funds in escrow.--A tobacco product manufacturer that
15 places funds into escrow under subsection (a)(2) shall receive
16 the interest or other appreciation on such funds as earned. The
17 funds themselves shall be released from escrow only under the
18 following circumstances:
19 (1) To pay a judgment or settlement on any released
1 claim brought against such tobacco product manufacturer by
2 the Commonwealth or any releasing party located or residing
3 in this Commonwealth. Funds shall be released from escrow
4 under this paragraph in the order in which they were placed
5 into escrow and only to the extent and at the time necessary
6 to make payments required under such judgment or settlement.
7 [(2) To the extent that a tobacco product manufacturer
8 establishes that the amount it was required to place into
9 escrow in a particular year was greater than the
10 Commonwealth's allocable share of the total payments that the
11 manufacturer would have been required to make in that year
12 under the Master Settlement Agreement had it been a
13 participating manufacturer, as such payments are determined
14 pursuant to section IX(i)(2) of the Master Settlement
15 Agreement and before any of the adjustments or offsets
16 described in section IX(i)(3) of the Master Settlement
17 Agreement other than the inflation adjustment, the excess
18 shall be released from escrow and revert back to such tobacco
19 product manufacturer.]
20 (2.1) To the extent that a tobacco product manufacturer
21 establishes that the amount it was required to place into
22 escrow on account of units sold in this Commonwealth in a
23 particular year was greater than the Master Settlement
24 Agreement payments, as determined pursuant to section IX(i)
25 of that agreement including after final determination of all
26 adjustments, that such manufacturer would have been required
27 to make on account of such units sold had it been a
28 participating manufacturer, the excess shall be released from
29 escrow and shall revert back to such tobacco product
30 manufacturer. The provisions of this paragraph are
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1 nonseverable. If any provision of this paragraph or its
2 application to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
3 the remaining provisions or applications of this paragraph
4 are void.
5 (2.2) To the extent that a tobacco product manufacturer
6 establishes that the amount it was required to place into
7 escrow in a particular year was greater than the
8 Commonwealth's allocable share of the total payments that the
9 manufacturer would have been required to make in that year
10 under the Master Settlement Agreement had it been a
11 participating manufacturer, as such payments are determined
12 pursuant to section IX(i)(2) of the Master Settlement
13 Agreement and before any of the adjustments or offsets
14 described in section IX(i)(3) of the Master Settlement
15 Agreement other than the inflation adjustment, the excess
16 shall be released from escrow and revert back to such tobacco
17 product manufacturer.
18 (3) To the extent not released from escrow under
19 [paragraph (1) or (2)] this subsection, funds shall be
20 released from escrow and revert back to the tobacco product
21 manufacturer 25 years after the date on which they were
22 placed into escrow.
23 * * *
24 Section 2. If section 4(b)(2.1) of the act or its
25 application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a
26 court of competent jurisdiction and if the decision has become
27 final either because of expiration of a period for appellate
28 review or because of a decision of a court of last resort, the
29 Attorney General shall transmit to the Legislative Reference
30 Bureau notice of the holding and its finality for publication in
20040S1149B1675 - 3 -
1 the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
2 Section 3. This act shall take effect as follows:
3 (1) The addition of section 4(b)(2.2) of the act shall
4 take effect upon publication of the notice under section 2 of
5 this act.
6 (2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
7 immediately.
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