If you are an Illinois taxpayer, chances are that you have just received, or will soon receive, a tax rebate from the state. The money comes from the settlement of a lawsuit brought against the tobacco industry by the attorney general. Illinois was one of two of the 50 states that chose to return the bulk of the settlement to citizens. A laudable idea, especially in an election year, but the premise of the lawsuit was for states to recoup money spent on illness caused by tobacco use, and to develop prevention programs. The Illinois Principals Association lobbied, unsuccessfully, to have the money used to allow schools to hire more counselors, social workers and school nurses whose jobs, at least in part, would be to counter the health and social problems incurred by young smokers.
Illinois citizens now have an opportunity to do a huge good deed. Donate the rebate to an organization that will use it for the purpose intended by the litigation.
