Ninety-Eight Percent of Virginia Tobacco Grower
Fund Paid in First year of Phase II Settlement
Virginia Achieves One of the Highest Payments in the
Nation
RICHMOND (April 11, 2000) -- The Virginia Tobacco Trust Certification
Board, Inc., has certified payment to Virginia tobacco farmers who applied for
the second-round payment of the 1999 National Tobacco Grower Settlement Trust,
bringing the 1999 total to $23.4 million. The board certified 98 percent of the
money set aside for payment in 1999, one of the highest totals in the nation. On
April 17, Chase Manhattan Bank, the national trustee, will mail second-round
checks to Virginia payees.
"From the outset, the goal of this board was to distribute these funds
to Virginia's tobacco producers and quota owners as quickly and efficiently as
possible. Today we have achieved that goal," said Senator Charles R.
Hawkins (R-Pittsylvania). "I am proud of the way that all of
Virginia's tobacco growing community came together to achieve such outstanding
results in a first-year process."
In December 1999, the board approved the payment of 90 percent of Virginia's
quota owners and producers. They also approved a second round of 1999 payments
for applicants who were eligible for the 1999 payment, but were unable to
complete their application by the assigned deadline, or did so erroneously. The
board does not anticipate a second-round payment in future years of the
settlement.
"This money could not come at a better time for Virginia's tobacco
farmers," said Delegate William W. "Ted" Bennett (D-Halifax).
"For farmers who have seen the amount of tobacco they can grow reduced by
almost 50 percent in the last few years, every bit counts. I am pleased that we
were able to pay almost every producer and quota owner in the state."
The private settlement between the tobacco growing states and major cigarette
manufacturers will provide nearly $340 million in aid over the next twelve years
to Virginia tobacco producers and quota owners. The Phase II settlement was
reached July 19, 1999, and Governor Gilmore appointed the 14-member board July
30. The board approved a payment process on September 30, allocating $24 million
for distribution in 1999.
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