SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A legal victory over tobacco giant Philip Morris could give Oregon more than $41 million to help fill a budget deficit and avoid cutting services for the sick and needy.
Oregon’s windfall results from a December ruling by the state Supreme Court rejecting Philip Morris’ challenge to part of the punitive damages it was ordered to pay in 1999. The company lost a lawsuit brought by the family of a Portland smoker who died of lung cancer.
Philip Morris had agreed to pay the man’s family, but challenged an Oregon law requiring that 60 percent of punitive damage awards go to a state fund that compensates crime victims.
The Legislature’s chief budget writers propose using a portion of the state’s $56 million share to shrink a $200 million budget gap.
