More Than One Million Signatures Filed for Tobacco Tax Initiative; 200,000 Signatures Collected by Volunteers for Measure to Prevent Teen Smoking, Save Lives and Help Fund California's Healthcare Priorities

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--May 4, 2006--Hundreds of volunteers gathered at rallies outside of county Registrar of Voters' offices throughout the state today to mark the filing of 1.1 million signatures for a ballot initiative that would provide critical funding to prevent smoking, especially among children. The initiative would strengthen and expand the reach of existing tobacco use prevention programs; fund health insurance for children; and provide needed resources for other health care priorities including disease prevention, medical research, and emergency room care.

Thousands of volunteers from sponsoring organizations have been in shopping malls, parking lots and churches throughout the state over the past three months signing up voters to support the initiative. A total of 200,000 signatures were collected from the coalition's volunteer base, with the balance from paid signature gatherers.

"We must pass this initiative to prevent California's kids from becoming smokers," said Charles Smith, Chair of the Coalition for a Healthy California and volunteer with the American Cancer Society. Tobacco companies are still spending more than a million dollars a day in California to promote smoking, and 200 California kids become new smokers every day.

The initiative is sponsored by a broad coalition of health care advocates including the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association of California, American Heart Association, The Children's Partnership, Children Now, the California Hospital Association, the California Primary Care Association, and emergency doctors and nurses, among many others.

The initiative is intended for the November 2006 ballot and would raise the state's tobacco tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2.60. It would provide approximately $2.1 billion annually for anti-smoking programs, disease research and treatment efforts, children's health insurance, emergency room care and nursing education.

"This is the broadest coalition that's ever come together to reduce smoking in California," said Paul Knepprath of the American Lung Association of California. "It reflects Californians' strong support for raising cigarettes taxes to reduce tobacco use, the number one preventable cause of death in this state."