JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri has received a $156 million payment as part of a nationwide settlement with tobacco companies.
Attorney General Chris Koster says this year's annual payment raises Missouri's receipts from the 1998 tobacco settlement to more than $1.5 billion.
Missouri was one of 46 states that participated in the settlement. It was intended to cover government costs of providing health care to people made ill by tobacco use. But many states have used the money to plug budget holes.
Koster says Missouri is the only state in the settlement that has not enacted a law aiding enforcement against certain tobacco manufacturers. Koster says that puts Missouri at risk of losing some of its settlement dollars.