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Clinton backs tobacco deal
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November 16, 1998: 11:24 a.m. ET
$206B settlement is "important step" toward ending state smoking suits
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - President Bill Clinton applauded a weekend agreement between cigarette makers and state attorneys general on Monday, but said the $206 billion deal is only a step in the ongoing tobacco regulation process.
Under terms of the fragile agreement, four tobacco companies will pay for a $1.7 billion anti-smoking educational and research campaign and will shoulder increased advertising and promotional restrictions.
In return, the companies - R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Lorillard and Brown & Williamson - will be immune to all future civil and criminal lawsuits once they lose a state lawsuit.
If endorsed, the deal will settle the 40 state and territorial lawsuits now pending and allow the seven states that have not yet filed suit to recoup Medicaid expenses caused by smoking-related ailments.
Four states - Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas - have already settled separately for a total of $40 billion.
Although President Clinton called the agreement "an important step forward," it did not end his push for universal tobacco regulation, a White House spokesman said.
The spokesman said that in addition to renewing his calls for comprehensive cigarette legislation in 1999, Clinton will petition the Supreme Court to seek additional tobacco regulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Negotiators from both sides plan to meet Friday, when state attorneys general must decide whether or not to sign the agreement. All parties involved will release a formal announcement on November 23.
In early Monday trading Philip Morris stock (MO) was up 9/16 at 54-5/8, while RJR Nabisco Holding Co. shares (RN) gained 1/8 to 30-3/4. 
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